APP clears 22 of 23 chairmanship seats in Rivers LG election

APP clears 22 of 23 chairmanship seats in Rivers LG election

The Action Peoples Party (APP) has won 22 of 23 chairmanship positions in Rivers State local government election.

Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Adolphus Enebeli, announced the results of the elections on Saturday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

He said the result of the remaining LGA — Etche — world be announced at a later date because collation was still ongoing.

Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers, had recently directed his loyalists to defect to the APP to contest the election.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers had earlier cautioned against the declaration of the results.

Aaron Chukwuemeka, the Rivers PDP chairman, warned that announcing results could incite violence.

Victor Giadom, APC chairman in the South-South, said the party boycotted the election because of discrepancies with the existing laws.

On September 4, a high court in the state held that RSIEC could conduct the LGA elections using the 2023 voter register.
But on September 30, a federal high court in Abuja barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voter register to RSIEC.
The court also barred the Inspector General of Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) from providing security for the poll.
Fubara was however not deterred and insisted that the election must hold.