Right now, Rivers State is having big political problems.
Recently, there was a local government election, and this made things even worse. This election was run by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, known as RSIEC. It happened even if some people, who follow Nyesom Wike, didn’t want it to happen. Wike is a famous leader in the FCT, and he didn’t agree with the election that Governor Siminalayi Fubara wanted.
People who like Wike, from parties like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), said they would not join in the election. They said a court in Abuja had said that the election was not planned properly.
A judge named Peter Lifu said RSIEC did not follow the rules because they didn’t announce the election date 90 days in advance. So, he stopped the voter list from being given to RSIEC. He also told the police and DSS not to help with election security. This court decision was because APC in Rivers State wasn’t happy with the election date.
But Governor Fubara didn’t listen and decided the election should still happen. Some people got very mad about this, and the political situation became tense. Some people agreed with the governor, like the former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
RSIEC said they were ready for the election even if there were legal problems and said they had the voter list, although INEC disagreed.
On the day of the election, troublemakers were around. Some armed people tried to scare voters. Before the election started, a building where APC meets was damaged with explosives.
The head of the APC in the state, Chief Tony Okocha, blamed Governor Fubara’s followers for the attack. In some places, there were peaceful votes happening, but in other areas like Rumuepirikom Community in the Obio/Akpor area, gunshots were heard. Armed people came and told voters not to come out. It scared many away from voting.
Also, two people got hurt in a place called Igwuruta because of some fighting. People said it was because some youths were trying to do what the court said.
Governor Fubara regained control of local governments after Wike tried to keep some influence even after his time as governor was over. Fubara put new leaders in place for the local governments.
Right before the election, Fubara told his people to run for election with a party called Action Peoples Party (APP), since Wike had a strong influence in PDP.
After the election, a Chief Election Officer named Justice Adolphus Enebeli announced that APP won most of the positions in 22 out of 23 areas.
But, the APC said the election was fake, saying it didn’t really happen. Ikenga Chibike, speaking for APC in Rivers State, said the court was right, and the results were not real. He said RSIEC didn’t follow the right steps to do a proper election. That’s why APC didn’t join the election, sticking with the court’s earlier decision.