Politics
Rivers crisis: INEC counters RISIEC over voter register
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The controversies rocking the forthcoming October 5 local government elections in Rivers State continued on Wednesday as the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) disagreed with the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RISIEC) over voters’ register.
INEC made it clear that it had never released the voter register to RISIEC in compliance with the judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Rivers State, Dr. Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem, said there was no truth in the claim by RISIEC that it got the register from INEC.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, Dr. Sinikiem explained that INEC’s tradition had been to provide the voters register to RSIEC before local government elections as mandated by the law.
But he said such tradition was encumbered by the orders from the High Court.
Sinikiem noted though, that INEC had received two requests from RISIEC for the voter register, but could not comply with it because the court’s judgment tied the hands of the commission.
He clarified that INEC’s Department of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) was in charge of the register in soft copies.
He said certified photocopies of the register would have been sent to RISIEC but insisted that no such document had been handed over to the state’s umpire.
Sinikiem said: “The tradition of the commission is that before an election for state at the local government the only responsibility that we have is to give them voters’ register because we are empowered to maintain and keep voters’ register for the country.
“However, to make it very clear, the RSIEC has written to us about two times for release of the register but we have not released before we received from our headquarters an order from a Federal High Court restraining INEC from releasing the registers.
“So until now, we have not officially handed over the Rivers state voters’ register to RSIEC. We have not, the ICT department housed the voter register.
“And voters register is in soft copy and it is in two ways, either we give it to them in soft copy, we photocopy it both black and white and coloured then we stamp certified through copy.
“But we have not given them, there is no register in our office that will show that we have handed over such document to them. But they have written.”
Speaking on the court orders, Sinikiem said that he had received only one court order from the INEC Headquarters in Abuja.
He confirmed that the headquarters only sent the Federal High Court order to his office demanding compliance adding that he was unaware of a separate state High Court order.
Sinikiem said: “I have the one of the Federal High Court from Abuja which was sent to me by my headquarters directing me to comply with the court order. I have not seen another court order from the state High Court.
“Well it is administrative, it not that we withheld it, but when the RSIEC request, they have to come for the processes, they have not come to conclude the processes before we got the court order. We have not released it”.
INEC’s position came a day after the Emeka Beke-led All Progressives Congress (APC) wrote to the commission and gave reasons why the federal High Court’s order could not stop the forthcoming local government election.
Beke had explained in his letter that by virtue of the judgement that sacked Tony Okocha as the caretaker committee chairman of the APC, the suit he instituted had become defective since he acted as an impostor.
He also told INEC that the APC was participating in the elections and that the suit, that birthed the judgement was unknown to the party.
INEC’s position also contradicted the statement by the Chairman of RSIEC, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, who on the 26th of September, said that RISIEC had already received the voters’ register from INEC before the litigation.
Enebeli had said: “In the 6th Commission under my charge we are very proactive. A wise man can never be taken unawares.
“We (RSIEC) are proactive, we follow due process. Even before the cases went to court we have liaised with INEC, and the correspondences are there. That is it. It is the gift of patience and planning.
“I’m not a last-minute man. I plan ahead. And so all these things were concluded since last year the correspondences are there.
“The display of register will be carried out in all the 6, 866 polling units in the 23 local government areas of Rivers State.”
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, recently stormed RISIEC head office in Port Harcourt and insisted that nothing should stop the electoral process.
After confirming from Enebeli that the commission was ready for the poll, the governor vowed to deal with anybody attempting to truncate the exercise.
Fubara said: “Our election will hold on the 5th of October, 2024. I’m aware that RISIEC told me that they already had an order mandating them to conduct the election on the 5th of October 2024, and the security agencies to support them.
“So, I think with that order, the election will hold. I might not be a lawyer but I know there is something they call first-in-hand, and since they have the first-in-hand, we will give them all the necessary support for that election to be conducted. And it will be one of the best elections ever conducted free and fair in this State.
“What is important to me is the interest of Rivers state that it has to be alive. It doesn’t belong to anybody. I don’t care who nominated you but do the right thing that is what is important to me, because if we make a mistake today, it is going to live with us forever.
“Nobody has a right to come here. This is the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission. It belongs to Rivers State, and I am the Governor. So, if there is anything, let me know, I will come here myself.”
Fubara referred to the orders of the state High Court, which recently mandated RISIEC, the state government, and the state governor to conduct the election in a suit filed by the All Peoples Party (APP).
In the order issued by the presiding Judge, L.P.C Igwe, the court said in line with section 7 sub-section 1 of the Constitution, the state government and Fubara was bound to make adequate provisions for the elections to ensure that the affairs of the local government councils in the state were conducted by democratically elected officials.
The judge said in view of section 7, sub-section 1, Section 5A of RISIEC, Law number 2 of 2018; the decision of the Supreme Court of July 11th, 2024, and the expiration of the tenure of the former democratically elected local government councils in Rivers State on June 17th, 2024, the defendants were bound to conduct the poll.
The judge insisted that the elections must be conducted in the shortest possible time to comply with the judgement of the apex court.
In view of the Supreme Court judgement and all the cited provisions of the Constitution and RISIEC Law, the court ruled that RISIEC was entitled to use the national register of voters for the 2023 general elections compiled by INEC and already in the custody of RISIEC to conduct the poll.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that political parties have utilised the three-day extension granted by the commission to upload names of their governorship and state assembly candidates.
An official of INEC who spoke revealed this said the parties had used the additional window since they were the ones who requested the extension.
It’s obvious. They asked for it and we gave it to them. So obviously, they must have used it,” he said.
Recall that parties contesting in the elections have uploaded the names of their candidates on the portal. They include the All Progressives Congress (APC) the African Democratic Congress (ADC) the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Peoples Redemption Party (PRP); New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and others.
National Chairman of the APC, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, announced over the weekend that his party has complied fully with the upload while founder of the NNPP, Dr Boniface Aniebonam has also stated that the party was able to field candidates for over 90 per cent of all elective positions.
The latest extension represents the second time INEC has adjusted the deadline for political parties to submit candidates for the 2027 elections.
INEC on Tuesday night closed its dedicated portal for political parties to submit the names and particulars of their governorship and State House of Assembly candidates for the 2027 general elections.
The portal closed at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11, following a three-day extension granted by the commission to enable political parties complete the nomination process.
INEC had initially fixed Saturday, August 8, 2026, as the deadline for the submission of the candidates’ lists for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
However, the commission, in a statement issued on Sunday, approved the extension to Tuesday, August 11, following appeals from political parties for additional time to complete the upload of their candidates’ details.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the extension followed “growing appeals by political parties for additional time to complete the process.”
The exercise covers candidates for governorship and State Houses of Assembly seats ahead of the elections scheduled for February 2027. Under INEC’s revised timetable, political parties were required to upload their nomination forms and candidates’ particulars through the commission’s dedicated Candidate Nomination Portal.
A senior INEC official, when contacted, said the commission would not release figures on the number of political parties that had successfully submitted their governorship and State House of Assembly candidates until after the portal closes and the data is fully reconciled.
The official, who spoke to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity, said releasing figures before the deadline could result in inaccurate statistics, as parties could still make submissions in the final minutes before the portal shuts.
“We’ll give you after tomorrow. We can’t give you figures just because we’re in a rush to inform the public. We’ll give you inaccurate figures,” the official said.
He explained that the commission would need to wait until the portal had completely closed before determining the exact number of submissions, noting that there could be activity on the system even in the final minutes.
According to him, the commission would release the figures after the process had been concluded and the data properly verified.
Earlier in July, the commission extended the deadline for the submission of Presidential and National Assembly candidates by three days, from July 11 to July 14, 2026.
INEC had initially scheduled the submission of the names and particulars of Presidential and National Assembly candidates to close on Saturday, July 11, but moved the deadline to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14, following an appeal by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on behalf of political parties that encountered difficulties uploading candidates’ details.
The commission said the extension was intended to give all parties a fair opportunity to complete the nomination process, while urging them to take advantage of the additional window.
The completion of the candidate submission process is expected to pave the way for the next stages of the electoral timetable, including the publication of candidates’ particulars for public scrutiny.
INEC’s revised timetable provides for the publication of the personal particulars of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates later in August, ahead of the February 2027 elections.
The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 election, Peter Obi, has lamented that Nigerian democracy is in serious crisis.
He decried what he described as the erosion of democratic principles in Nigeria, saying the country is facing a crisis.
The ex- Anambra State governor spoke on Tuesday at the 2026 Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue in Bauchi, the Bauchi State capital, where he reflected on the state of democracy and governance in the country.
Obi recalled spending three years in court challenging his election as Anambra State governor, noting that judges he had never met previously delivered judgments in his favour.
He said such an experience would be difficult to replicate in Nigeria today.
I was in court for three years challenging my election, five judges that I never met for one day gave judgement in my favour, it cannot happen in Nigeria of today. I went to Court of Appeal, five judges I never met gave judgement in my favour.
“So, if you look at that and look at what is happening today in Nigeria where professors are now aiding illiterates to rig elections, where our lawmakers have removed forgery as an offence in electoral matters, and Senior Advocates of Nigeria are defending forgery. Our religious leaders are now praying for criminal politicians for blessings. We have a crisis. And above all, our judges are now singing on your mandate,” Obi said.
He urged Nigerians to examine the direction of the country and question the state of its democratic institutions.
Obi said Nigerians must reject the normalisation of practices that undermine democracy, warning that their consequences could be inherited by future generations.
According to him, “We need to reverse this because the abuse we are allowing today will take its revenge on our children.”
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This year’s GJF Democracy Dialogue is anchored on the question: “Beyond elections, can political parties and the judiciary save African democracy?”
The event was chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and attended by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and former Vice President Namadi Sambo.
Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed hosted the event, which also brought together constitutional experts and civil society voices from across the continent.
Politics
K!ll Accord members: Pre-election acidic comment ignites anger over viral video of Osun Senator, Fadahunsi ordering attack
Anger and fierce condemnation has swept across the nation following the emergence of a viral video in which the Senator representing Osun East Senatorial District, Francis Ade Fadahunsi, allegedly issued a direct order inciting violent attacks and voter suppression against members of the rival Accord party.
The controversial video footage, which was brought to widespread public attention after being shared on X (formerly Twitter) by international Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, captures the sitting lawmaker addressing a crowd with inflammatory and hostile statements.
In the recorded footage, the lawmaker can be heard making explicit calls to violence and disenfranchisement aimed at members of the Accord party ahead of an upcoming electoral contest.
“From now on, whenever you see Accord members, kill them. I authorise you to kill them. They have wives and children too,” the Senator stated in the video clip. He went on to assert control over the electoral process, adding, “This is a Federal Government election. On election day, even if they come with voters card, we won’t allow them to vote.”
The broadcast of the video by Davido—who possesses a massive global following and is a prominent native of Osun State—amplified the footage rapidly across social media platforms, sparking immediate fury from civil society organizations, political analysts, and concerned citizens who have categorized the statements as open treason against democratic tenets and an explicit threat to life.
The inciting comments come against the backdrop of heightened political rivalry and volatile partisan friction within Osun State.
Senator Francis Ade Fadahunsi, a retired Assistant Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, serves as the representative for the Osun East Senatorial District in the National Assembly.
Osun State’s political landscape has grown increasingly fragile following intense inter-party clashes, particularly between dominant political forces and emerging strongholds of the Accord party.
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