Political crisis is again brewing in Rivers as the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected plans by the state’s electoral body to proceed with local government elections on August 30.
The party warns that the exercise risks disenfranchising voters and breaching a Supreme Court ruling.
According to the APC, Rivers chapter spokesperson, Darlington Nwauju, the State’s Independent Electoral Commission should delay the polls until the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) completes its continuous voter registration in the state in line with the apex court’s February judgement on the use of updated registers for elections.
“I do not think you’re supposed to have an election in the middle of voter registration, given that many who have attained voting age this year will be alienated or disenfranchised,” Nwauju is quoted by Sunday PUNCH.
He accused RSIEC of selectively adopting decisions from the dissolved 6th commission led by Justice Adolphus Enebeli (retd).
The APC position adds to mounting opposition from civil society groups, prominent politicians, and a pending court suit seeking to halt the exercise.
Stakeholders had argued that both RSIEC and the state’s Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), lack the legitimacy to organise the LG poll under the current emergency rule in the state.
Despite the criticisms, RSIEC and the administrator have insisted on the August 30 date.
RSIEC Commissioner in charge of Political Parties’ Affairs, Monitoring and Security, Godfrey Woke, said the voters register obtained in March remains valid and the commission has already begun screening chairmanship, vice-chairmanship, and councillorship candidates.
The news medium quoted Woke as saying, “The date for the local government elections in Rivers State is sacrosanct. We are not shifting from what we are doing.”
