Politics
PDP Dominates 9th Assembly
With the guber and State Assembly elections concluded a week ago, there are strong indications that members of the 8th Assembly were resoundingly re-elected under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Recall that except for few members elected under the opposition more than two third of the House legislators are members of the ruling PDP, and from results so far confirmed, members of the APC have been total dislodged from the 9th Assembly set to commence after May 29th.
Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani who voted at Ataba in Andoni Local Government Area during the March 9th elections, emerged victorious in the polls.
The speaker had in the past two years continue to win polls even after a re-rerun elections was held in the area sometime in 2016, as he returned to assume his position as speaking of the eight assembly.
Meanwhile, reports has it t hat results so far announced show that the PDP has won 26 state constituencies in the assembly.
They include, Hon. Sam Ogeh for Emohua, Hon. Azem Opara for Port Harcourt Constituency III, Hon. Michael Chinda for Obio/Akport II.
Others are: Hon. Martin Amaewhule for Obio/Akpor I, Hon. Kelechi Nwogu for Omuma, Hon. Edison Ehie for Ahoada-East II, Hon. Adonye Diri for Opobo/Nkoro, Hon. Anselm Oguguo for Ikwerre.
For the result in Ikwerre declared by INEC Returning Officer Dr. Oriakpono Obemeata, Hon. Oguguo of the PDP polled 18,650 votes to defeat the SDP who scored 2,192 votes.
Consequently, Hon. Smart Adoki also retained for Port Harcourt Constituency 1, Hon. Enemi Alabo George won Asari-Toru II, while Hon. Blessing Pepple won Bonny Constituency seat.
Others who won their seats are Hon. Chibudom Eze of Ahoada East I, Hon. Ganville Wellington, Asari-Toru I, and Hon Nathaniel Elendu Uwaji of ONELGA II.
Hon. Evans Bipi retained his seat for Ogu/Bolo State Constituency, as Wami Solomon Chile picked up seat for Port Harcourt Constituency I.
Linda, Steward made a comeback, winning Okrika State Constituency. Same also went for Hon. Matthew Dike for Tai State Constituency, Tony Ejiogu, Etche Constituency II, and Hon. Nnana Opurum got Etche Constituency I
Chairman, House Committee for Public Accounts, Hon. Major Jack retained his seat for Akuku-Toru Constituency I, as Opuene Lolo Isaiah got Akuku-Toru II. Hon. Aforji Igwe also won Eleme Constituency.
Hon. Anthony Soberekon won the Degema Constitutency seat as the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Dr Farah Dagogo won his seat for the Bonny/Degema Federal Constituency. The same goes for current House member representing Oyigbo State Constituency, Hon Promise Dike, who is now member-elect to resented Oyigbo/Tai/Eleme in the Federal House of Representatives.
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.
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