The Rivers State local government election held on Saturday has been dismissed by both factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). Both parties assert that no election occurred and have condemned the process, which was plagued by violence, including explosions and gunfire....CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING.>>
The election was won by the Action Peoples Party (APP), which secured 22 out of 23 chairmanship positions and 314 of 319 councillorship seats.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The PDP faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, labeled the election as “futile” and vowed to challenge it in court. Wike’s supporters maintain that the election violated a Federal High Court judgment that barred the conduct of the poll.
The state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kenneth Yowika, asserted that the election and subsequent swearing-in of council chairmen were illegal, citing Justice Peter Lifu’s judgment.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who had lost control of the PDP to Wike, swore in the newly elected chairmen of the 23 local government areas at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
The swearing-in occurred hours after the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) Chairman, Adolphus Enebeli, issued the chairmen their certificates of return.
The power struggle between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, has deepened, as Fubara’s supporters defected to the APP following their loss of control over the PDP. These supporters, now aligned with the APP, were able to secure local government leadership positions.
Yowika emphasized that the PDP would continue to rely on the courts to ensure justice is served, maintaining that the party would not resort to physical protests but would press for a legal resolution.
According to Yowika, the government’s disregard for the court ruling and its actions in proceeding with the election and swearing-in process demonstrate a failure to adhere to the rule of law. The PDP insists the election was illegal and invalid.READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
