Electoral Commission Stands Firm: Rivers LG Polls to Proceed Without Delay

The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) has announced that everything is ready for the local government elections scheduled for today, October 5th, 2024. State police authorities have announced they will not offer security for the exercise, referencing a court order.

Nonetheless, RSIEC announced late Friday that the election will proceed as planned. To remove any ambiguity, we wish to affirm that the Local Government Council Elections in Rivers State are scheduled for October 5th, 2024, as originally planned, and there will be no alterations to this date,” stated Tobin Tamunotonye, RSIEC Commissioner for Civil Education/Public Affairs.

Referring to the RSIEC Law of 2018, the ruling by Honorable Justice I.P.C. Igwe from the High Court of Rivers State on September 4, 2024, and the Constitution of 1999, he stated that the agency has been authorized to hold local government elections in the state.

He revealed that the commission has delivered non-sensitive materials to polling stations throughout the state, and the updated 2023 voter registers are now accessible at all 6,366 polling units. RSIEC characterized the elections as “crucial and in accordance with the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s directive to RSIEC,” stressing that “voting centers will open promptly as planned, with materials already delivered to various distribution points for each polling unit, and voters’ registers also provided to election staff.” It also rejected assertions regarding the resignation of its Chairman, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (Retired).

“The commission stated that the previous claim is intentionally misleading, unfounded, and entirely false. It was designed to deceive the public. To clarify, the Chairman/Chief Electoral Commissioner remains in position and has not resigned as falsely reported across various media platforms.

The period preceding the local government elections in Rivers State has been marked by intricate political strategies among various state stakeholders.The Federal High Court in Abuja issued a ruling preventing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from providing the voter register to RSIEC. It further directed the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) to refrain from offering security for the election. Following this ruling, police officials in Rivers announced their decision not to participate in the process. Nonetheless, Governor Siminalayi Fubara remains determined to proceed with the elections, despite his party—the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)—not participating in the polls.

Around 1:00 am on Friday, he stormed the RSIEC office in Port Harcourt and accused police authorities of attempting to lay siege to the agency and steal materials—a claim that the police have denied.