Rivers Administrator Urges Peace as Local Government Elections Hold Today

The Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd), has appealed to residents of the state to maintain peace as Rivers holds its local government elections today.

Ibas made the call at a meeting with leaders of organised labour and Local Government Administrators at the Government House, Port Harcourt. According to him, “All necessary arrangements have been made to ensure a safe and peaceful election,” urging citizens to “please go out tomorrow (today) and exercise your civic responsibility without fear or intimidation.”

Voting is underway across 6,866 polling units in the 23 local government areas of Rivers State. The polls come six months and two days after the Supreme Court annulled the council elections earlier conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) on October 5, 2024.

The administrator emphasized that the timing of the exercise was deliberate. “Tomorrow’s elections are an important step towards restoring democratic governance at the grassroots. But leaders can only be held accountable when there is clarity on the human and material resources available to them,” he stated.

Ibas highlighted his administration’s focus on transparency and accountability, pointing to the ongoing staff verification and biometric enrolment exercise. He revealed the progress so far: “37,703 state staff verified, against a previous figure of over 43,000. 19,186 state pensioners verified, compared to over 25,500. 2,004 local government pensioners verified out of over 2,600. 8,000 local government staff verified across seven LGAs, including Obio/Akpor, Bonny, Etche, and Degema.”

He fixed September 4, 2025, as the deadline for completing the verification of all local government staff, pledging to deploy all state resources necessary to meet the target.

Meanwhile, RSIEC Chairman, Michael Odey, explained that the commission had carefully studied both riverine and upland terrains in its preparations. He said non-sensitive election materials had already been dispatched to LGAs on Thursday, while sensitive materials were sent on Friday under security escort.

Odey stressed that the commission was ready for the polls. “Adhoc staff were adequately trained and the commission is poised to deliver free, fair, credible and transparent elections on Saturday,” he assured.

At the same meeting, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police pledged tight security for the exercise. He declared, “These operations reflect a broader strategy to dismantle criminal networks and ensure public confidence in law enforcement agencies, especially as it concerns the upcoming chairmanship/councillorship election.”