Rivers state LG Poll: Police Commissioner announces 18-hour curfew As CSOs Kick
The Rivers State Police Command has announced a 18-hour curfew starting from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00pm for local government elections slated for tomorrow, Saturday, August 30.
This even as the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Rivers State have disagreed over the legitimacy of tomorrow’s local council elections in the state.
Speaking at a joint security briefing at RSIEC Headquarters in Port Harcourt, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Olubenga Adepoju, noted that the curfew is to ensure the safety of people during the council elections.
He stated that the police have done security sweeps around security hotspots to ensure that criminal elements don’t foment trouble before and during the elections.
CP Adepoju said that to ensure watertight security, accreditation passes for essential workers and the media will be released late to prevent falsification of such credentials.
Meanwhile, a State High Court in Port Harcourt has dismissed a motion seeking to halt the local council elections.
The presiding Judge, Justice Stephen Jumbo, ruled that the application lacked merit and dismissed it. However, the court granted a motion for substituted service to the defendants.
The suit was filed by Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner, Williams Abayomi-Stanley, against President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), and its chairman.
The claimant sought an interpretation of a section of the RSIEC law and the Constitution of Nigeria, specifically on whether the President has the legal powers to appoint a chairman and members of the RSIEC to conduct local council elections in the state.
Despite dismissing the motion to stop the elections, Justice Jumbo directed that the council elections should proceed as scheduled. The case has been adjourned till September 10, 2025, for a hearing on the substantive suit.
Speaking outside the courtroom, Godsent Elewa, counsel to the claimant, welcomed the ruling, which granted one of his motions, and expressed readiness to continue with the proceedings on the next adjourned date.
In a separate development, a former All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the 2015 House of Assembly election in Port Harcourt Constituency 3, Chima Nnokam, and four others have filed a suit at the Rivers State High Court urging it to declare the local council election as unconstitutional.
The claimants in their originating summons against the RSIEC, the Attorney General of Rivers State and two financial institutions are seeking declarations that the new RSIEC Chairman and members were unlawfully appointed, therefore, are not competent to conduct the scheduled election.
MEANWHILE, while the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Rivers State chapter, insisted that the elections should be suspended, urging the state and the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court judgment of February 28, 2025, in conducting council polls, the Rivers Peace Initiative argued that peace should take precedence despite constitutional concerns.
The Convener of the Rivers Peace Initiative, Obinna Ebogidi, said: “Our people have been without democratically elected leaders at the grassroots for too long. This election, no matter the suspicions, is an important step toward restoring governance at the local council level. What we must emphasise is that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) conducts it credibly so that the process heals instead of dividing us.”
But spokesperson of the CLO, Emmanuel Obe, countered that even the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had admitted it was impossible to hold credible elections within the 21-day timeframe given by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
