Rivers PDP, APC in joint protest after Fubara vows local elections will hold

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State are holding a joint protest in Port Harcourt after Governor Siminalayi Fubara declared Thursday (today) and Friday as public holidays ahead of Saturday’s local government election in the state.

A Federal High Court in Abuja barred Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) from conducting the elections and also barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing voters register to RSIEC for the purpose of the election.

The case was instituted by the APC caretaker committee in Rivers under the leadership of Tony Okocha, who was sacked by a court in the state.

Mr Okocha is an ally of the former Governor Nyesom Wike, now FCT minister, who is fighting Mr Fubara for control of the political structure in the oil-rich state.

Mr Wike controls the PDP structure in the state and the Mr Okocha-led faction of the APC in the state.

Both the PDP and the APC are boycotting the local government election, citing the court order.

However, following the sack of Mr Okocha’s caretaker committee, the court reinstated the Emeka Beke-led leadership of the APC in the state. After taking over the party executive, Mr Beke mobilised members to participate in Saturday’s local election.

Mr Beke is an ally of Rotimi Amaechi, the former governor of Rivers and former minister of transportation.

Mr Amaechi, an APC 2023 presidential aspirant, came second in the party primary, which President Bola Tinubu won.

Mr Beke led-exco was dissolved by the APC national leadership after the party won the presidential election in 2023.

Election must go ahead – Fubara

In a broadcast on Wednesday, Governor Fubara declared public holidays for two days to enable residents to travel to their communities for the local election.

In the broadcast, Mr Fubara insisted that the election must be held on Saturday, saying it was the only window left to prevent the state from defaulting on the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments.

The Supreme Court in July ordered the federal government to stop funding local government areas in the country whose administration is run by appointed officials.

But President Tinubu extended the implementation date of the judgment to October, indicating that local governments in Rivers may not get federal allocations in October if the local election is not held.

To avoid his state being in default, Mr Fubara said during Wednesday’s broadcast that RSIEC has the INEC voters’ register in its custody and that the commission has been adequately funded to conduct the election.

It is not clear how RSIEC got the voters’ register, as the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State, Johnson Alalibo, said at a press briefing on Wednesday that the document had yet to be released to RSIEC. He confirmed receiving the application from the RSIEC.

He also confirmed receiving a court order from Abuja barring INEC from releasing the register to RSIEC.

Mr Fubara had in the broadcast said RSIEC has an order from a High Court in the state to conduct the election and urged the people to turn out and cast their ballots assuring them of adequate security.

About 12 hours after the broadcast, the PDP and APC are holding a joint protest at the PDP secretariat along Aba Road in Port Harcourt, against the local elections.

The video of the protest posted by Channels television shows a crowd of people along the road obstructing vehicular movement.

There is also a heavy presence of security officials at the secretariat, according to the Channels Television report.