Politics
Assembly Invites TUC, NLC, Others Over Employment
Notwithstanding the Rivers State Golden Jubilee celebrations that have ostensibly taken its toll on the activities of the State House of Assembly, the House engaged itself in various events last week.
Last Wednesday, the House, at its only plenary in the week, summoned Halliburton Energy Services over discrimination against Rivers indigenes working in the company.
The resolution of the House followed a motion by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Martin Amaewhule and the lawmaker representing Obio/Akpor Constituency II, Hon. Michael Chinda.
The House later invited the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the State Attorney General.
Announcing the resolution of the House, the Assembly speaker, Rt Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani said the House decided to invite the unions and the Attorney General for a holistic and broader investigation into the working conditions of staff in the employ of companies operating in the State.
Presenting the motion, Hon. Amaewhule sought the condemnation of the systematic discrimination against Rivers indigenes in the company. He also wants the Assembly to invite the management of the company on the vexed issue of constitutional breach and discrimination against Rivers indigenes working in the company.
Also at the plenary session, the member representing Port Harcourt Constituency I, Hon.Smart Adoki presented a petition from the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) host communities in the constituency, urging the Assembly to stop the Company from operating in their areas, if the company refuses to employ indigenes of the State.
The lawmaker representing Ahaoda West Constituency, Hon. Okpokiri Nwanaka Okpokiri also presented a petition seeking the intervention of the Assembly in the face-off between the company and the host communities in the area.
According to him, NAOC has, over the years, neglected all the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the communities and the company.
The Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani after consultation committed the two petitions to the House Committees on Energy and Employment, and directed that their reports be submitted at the next sitting.
The House resolved to embark on oversight visits to project sites to appraise Governor Nyesom Wike’s performance so far.
The resolution followed the motion sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Marshal Umom and 30 other members of the House.
Last Tuesday, the chairman, House Committee on Environment, Hon. Christian Ahiakwo led members of the committee on a visit to the office of the secretary to the State Government (SSG) to officially inform the State Government on the Environmental Summit slated for June, 2017.
The SSG represented by the Permanent Secretary in the office, Dr George Nwaeke, pledged government’s full support to the summit.
Same Tuesday, the majority leader of the House played host to the Nigerian Institute of Building, Rivers State Chapter.
The Majority Leader, Hon. Martin Amaewhule called for the introduction of building technology to the tertiary institution’s curriculum.
He said its introduction would reduce to the barest minimum, unemployment and youth restiveness in the country.
The chairman of the institute, Moses Ugheoke had decried the absence of the course in the tertiary institutions.
Enoch Epelle
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
-
Opinion4 days ago
Ancestorial Worship: My Take (1)
-
Education24 hours agoPAMO MEDICAL UNIVERSITY -Nullifies Arrest warrant on VC
-
Niger Delta1 day ago
PANDEF Seeks 50% Oil Derivation Allocation Increase
-
Rivers23 hours ago
Don Seeks Repositioning Of Tech Education For Dev
-
Education24 hours agoIAUE MOVES TO END GHOST WORKERS SYNDROME AS 400 NEW NON-TEACHING STAFF UNDERGO MANDATORY ETHICS TRAINING
-
News1 day agoFresh Ebola Scare As NCDC Records Two Cases
-
News1 day ago
Customs Partners EFCC, NDLEA, Others To Tackle Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing
-
News4 days agoFG Must Address Nigerians’ Concerns On Reforms -Shettima …Warns Against Misuse of AI, Social Media