The Chairman Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tony Okocha has said that the party will not participate in the Local Government Area (LGA) elections scheduled for October 2024 in the state.
Okocha stated this at a press conference that was held at the APC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) had scheduled the LGA elections for October 5th this year.
However, the Rivers APC filed a suit challenging the legitimacy of the local elections planned by the state government led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja also barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing its voter register to the Rivers State Government’s electoral body for the elections.
In his ruling, the judge, Peter Lifu, also barred the police and the State Security Service (SSS) from providing security for the state’s local government elections.
But in his reaction, the Rivers APC leader vowed that the party will not participate in the said elections even if it holds.
Here are his reasons; “Our concern is that from January 19, 2024, I joined the team of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and members of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). Our whole essence was to go to remind the chairmen and his colleagues that it was ripe for a Local Government elections because we are looking at the law of the state.
“The law of the state that is available stipulates that three months to the expiration of the incumbent chairmen and councilors of the Local Governments, an election should be conducted.
“When we were meeting with the chairman (IPAC chairman) after our presentation, the chairman pleaded with us that we should do everything and anything that is possible within the law to get the governor’s attention.
“The governor refused to fund the RSIEC to conduct Local Government elections. He knew clearly the expiration date of the incumbent and goes ahead to appoint a caretaker committee into the councils.
“There is no law that will permit elections again unless and until the governor is able to get the Assembly come to amend the law. Because the law states clearly, three months to the expiration of the incumbent, let there be Local Government elections. The incumbent had all left office in supposedly on the 17th of June, so which other law is he (the governor) going to follow?”
