Police disrupt Rivers LG elections amid heightened tensions, legal disputes

Police intervention on Saturday disrupted the local government elections at Elekahia Primary School in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.

Reports indicate that approximately 20 patrol vans filled with heavily armed officers arrived at the polling site, where they began firing tear gas into the premises, directly affecting voters participating in the election.

Earlier in the day, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) had started distributing sensitive materials to local government areas (LGAs) to facilitate the electoral process.

Voting commenced in several LGAs in the early hours, with some polling units actively casting ballots while others awaited the arrival of essential election materials.

Hours before the elections began, an explosion was reported at the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) faction led by Tony Okocha, the former chairman of the party’s caretaker committee in the state, adding to the atmosphere of unrest.

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The political climate in Rivers State has been charged due to an ongoing power struggle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Tensions escalated significantly following a federal high court ruling on September 30, which prohibited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the 2023 voter register to RSIEC.

The same court order also prevented the Inspector General of Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) from providing security for the election.

On October 2, INEC confirmed that it had not released the voter register to RSIEC, adhering to the court’s decision.

The following day, protests erupted outside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Port Harcourt, where demonstrators expressed their opposition to the planned local government election. Despite this, Governor Fubara insisted on proceeding with the elections.

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On Friday, in response to claims that police were planning to obstruct the election, Fubara visited the RSIEC office in Port Harcourt. Police operatives had barricaded the facility housing electoral materials, prompting concerns over the integrity of the electoral process.

Fubara criticized the police presence, alleging that the Inspector General of Police was acting on Wike’s orders to sabotage the elections.

In a statement responding to Fubara’s allegations, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) affirmed that its actions were consistent with the federal high court’s ruling, indicating that they were acting within the legal framework established by the judiciary.

This complex interplay of legal decisions and political maneuvering continues to create a volatile environment in Rivers State as the elections unfold.