Rivers State’s local government elections on Saturday were marked by low voter turnout and the late arrival of election materials.
Despite 18 political parties vying for 23 local government chairmanship positions and 319 councillorship seats, reports indicated that as of 10 a.m., election materials had not yet reached many voting centers.
In Obio/Akpor LGA, specifically at Units 18 and 60 in Ward 5, Elelewo Community, only police officers were present at the otherwise empty centers.
The delay was attributed to slow distribution from the Registration Area Centres (RACs) across the state.
In defiance of a police-issued movement restriction order, residents were seen going about their personal business, with some markets even in partial operation.
Nyebuchi Chinda, a PDP agent at Unit 18, Ward 5, explained that the delay in voting was due to electoral officers still being in the process of distributing materials to the various units.
Persecondnews recalls that Justice Adolphus Enebeli, the chairman of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), had announced on March 5, 2025, that the local government election would be held on August 30, 2025.
However, there were plans to conduct the election on October 5, 2024, which were invalidated by the apex court.
The current election date is August 30, 2025, amid some controversy and court cases challenging the RSIEC’s powers under the sole administrator.
Rivers’ sole administrator, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas had on April 9, announced the appointment of administrators for the 23 local government areas through Prof. Ibibia Worika, the Secretary to the State Government.
This announcement came barely 24 hours after the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt restrained the sole administrator from appointing administrators for the local government councils.
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