The Commissioner in charge of Political Parties Affairs / Monitoring/ Security, in the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission ( RSIEC), Prof Godfrey Ngozi Woke has said the Commission will go ahead with the Local Government Council elections as fixed on Saturday August 30, 2025.
Woke said this when he spoke with newsmen in the commission’s office in Port Harcourt.
The RSIEC Commissioner who was reacting to the 90 days notice said the current body was only acting on the Election notice as was issued by the previous administration of the body.
According to him, the previous administration so announced on March 5, 2025 of its plans to conduct council elections in the state and added that since it was not challenged by any political party or individual that they would go ahead with the election.
He also pointed out that the new date still accommodated the 150 days window and added that the the previous announcement was still subsisting.
“We have not deviated. We are not starting a fresh. We are starting from where they stopped”, he said.
Also speaking, the Commissioner in Charge of Legal/ Administrative Matters, Professor Chidi Haliday , noted since there was no legal constraints , the commission can seamlessly go on with the elections as scheduled.
Haliday further informed that periods of campaigns could be decriminatory while other things as announced , while citing Section 13 Sub 5 of the RSIEC Law to buttress his points.
On the issue of compliance, he said most political parties have complained except few with conflicting interests.
On the validity of Voter Registrar, the RSIEC Commissioner said that they will work with the former one as released by the Independent Electoral Commission in the state but will contact the INEC Headquarters in Abuja for direction or clarification in the event of any conflict regarding the conduct of the elections.
