Tuesday, September 2, 2025 - The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) has issued Certificates of Return to the 23 chairmen and councillors-elect who won in their various local council areas in the August 30 local council elections.
The certificates were presented to the winners at the RSIEC
office in Port Harcourt by the Commission’s Chairman, Michael Odey. During the
ceremony, Odey congratulated the winners and advised them to honour the trust
reposed in them by the people. He urged aggrieved contestants to seek
redress through legal means, emphasising the importance of upholding the rule
of law.
Odey assured that the Commission would conduct a post-mortem
analysis of its performance to identify areas for improvement.
Speaking on behalf of the new chairmen, the Chairman of Port
Harcourt City Council, Alwell Ihunda, expressed gratitude to President Bola
Tinubu, the Rivers State Administrator, Ibok Ette Ibas, and the security
agencies for ensuring a smooth electoral process.
The state administrator, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete
Ekwe Ibas, yesterday, swore in the 23 newly elected council chairmen, charging
for them to reject self-interest and embrace a new era of transparent,
accountable, and reform-driven leadership for the people.
The swearing-in ceremony, held at the Government House in
Port Harcourt, marks a pivotal milestone in the state’s journey to restore full
democratic governance following the period of political turbulence that
necessitated federal intervention.
However, the former Labour Party (LP) Presidential
candidate, Peter Obi, has condemned the Rivers State local council election,
describing it as “a desecration of democracy” and a dangerous precedent for
governance in Nigeria.
In a post on his X handle on Sunday, Obi faulted the
exercise, which was supervised by a Sole Administrator whose own appointment
has been the subject of controversy. He argued that the process stripped the
people of their constitutional right to choose their leaders, but instead
entrenched illegality
“The conduct of the Rivers State local council election is
rascality taken too far,” Obi declared. “It represents a double tragedy for our
democracy when a Sole Administrator—himself illegally appointed—dares to
conduct an election that should empower the people. This is not democracy; it
is the outright desecration of its very foundation.”
Meanwhile, the Edo State chapter of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the planned local council by-elections in
the state, describing the exercise as illegal, unconstitutional, and a
dangerous affront to democratic norms.
In a statement issued in Benin City yesterday and signed by
the party’s Publicity Secretary (Caretaker Committee), Chris Osa Nehikhare, the
PDP accused the organisers of the alleged by-elections, the Edo State
Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC), of staging a “kangaroo exercise”
without legal backing.
The statement said: “The attention of the PDP, Edo State,
has been drawn to the recent announcement of purported dates for bye-elections
into local councils in our state,” the statement read. “We categorically state
that such a move is illegal, unconstitutional, and a blatant disregard of a
subsisting court order.”
According to the PDP, the body claiming to organise the
elections is “unknown to law” and lacks the constitutional authority to conduct
such polls.
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