The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) on Saturday went ahead with the state’s local government election despite calls by the Nigerian Police Force and some stakeholders to suspend the process.
As at the time of this report, accreditation and voting had commenced as both sensitive and non-sensitive election materials had earlier arrived at different Registration and Accreditation Centers (RACs) in different local government areas of the state.
Expectedly , the atmosphere in the state generally reflected election day situations with roads notably quiet free of traffic and commercial activities down. However, the day’s situation was made more prominent with the absence of police officers at various polling units.
Electorates in the state were also seen at several polling boots including one at the Government Technical College in Ahoada East.
It would be recalled that Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, while speaking on Friday, reaffirmed his commitment to going ahead with the election, despite the Rivers State Police Command’s decision to withdraw from overseeing the process.
The Governor had expressed his displeasure with the position of the Police Force, alleging that the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, was undermining the election in favor of an unnamed “Abuja-based politician.”
Subsequently, RSIEC, emphasized that the election would proceed as planned, encouraging residents to exercise their voting rights in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we emphasize unequivocally that the 5th October 2024 Local Government Council Elections in Rivers State will hold as scheduled, and there is no going back,” RSIEC said in a statement by its Commissioner for Civil Education/Public Affairs Tobin Tamunotonye.
