The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, along with a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has rejected the election results, which saw the Action Peoples Party (APP) win 22 out of 23 local government chairmanship seats. The Wike camp has vowed to challenge the election in court, asserting that no legitimate election took place.
The election, marred by violence, including explosions and gunfire, was held on Saturday, October 5. Hours after the results were declared, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara swore in the newly elected chairmen of the 23 local government areas. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Government House in Port Harcourt, despite protests from opposition parties.
The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) declared the APP as the overwhelming winner of the election, securing 314 out of 319 councillorship seats. However, both the PDP faction led by Wike and a segment of the APC, led by Tony Okocha, argue that the election defied a Federal High Court judgment prohibiting it.
PDP’s state Publicity Secretary, Kenneth Yowika, stated, “We are pressing further through the courts to ensure that justice is done and seen to have been done.” He emphasized that the election was conducted in violation of a court ruling, and the party intends to fight the results legally.
Yowika said, “First of all everything concerning that issue is illegal. We have said it clearly that elections should not be held, you know, relying on the Federal High Court judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu.
“And I had said before this time that any action taken regarding the issue of the local government will be futile because if we say we are a country that stands by the rule of law, then we should not be doing things that are contrary to the law.
“The law had said do things that will be in line with the judgment of the Federal High Court and the Government of the day has not obeyed that.
“So, we are a law-abiding party. We are not going to come out physically to begin to fight. We had a protest yesterday (Saturday) clearly showing that there was no election.
“And we stand by that decision that we have taken that there was no election, and we wait for the judiciary and other arms of government that should put things in proper perspective to act. We continue to hold on that there was no election.”
Continuing, he said, “We visited the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission yesterday and clearly, the world saw that there was no election there. So, we stand by the ruling of the Federal High Court which said that that election should not go on.
“Well, they went ahead to do whatever charade people saw and that is not acceptable by the Peoples Democratic Party. Like we said we are a law-abiding party, and we stand to remain that.”
The APC faction loyal to former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, expressed satisfaction with the election results, stating that they would not challenge the outcome as their party won at least one councillorship seat. In contrast, the Tony Okocha-led faction of the APC stands with the PDP in opposing the election’s legitimacy.
Governor Fubara, speaking during the swearing-in ceremony, declared that his administration is entering a phase of transformation and promised that democratic dividends would soon be visible across the state. He also urged the newly elected chairmen to act as servants of the people, emphasizing peace and development across the 23 local government areas.
