THE Action Alliance (AA) has clinched the final chairmanship seat in the Rivers State Local Government election conducted on Saturday, October 5.
But the African People’s Party (APP) cleared all the 19 councilorship positions in the local government.
The ICIR reported Saturday night that the APP won 22 out of the 23 chairmanship seats in the state.
Declaring results for the remaining local government area on Sunday, October 6, the chairman of the Rivers State Independent National Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Adolphus Enebeli, lauded the exercise and voters turnout.
He said the exercise was free, fair, and credible, despite the controversies characterising it.
He also noted that there was a large voter turnout during the poll.
According to Channels Television, the electoral commission announced that the APP claimed 314 councilorship seats, while the All Progressives Congress (APC), Boot Party, Labour Party, Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Young Progressives Party (YPP) each secured one seat.
Meanwhile, Governor Siminalayi Fubara has swore in the newly elected chairmen.
The ceremony, held at the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Port Harcourt, was held hours after the chairmen were issued certificates of return by Enebeli.
With this development, The ICIR reports that Fubara’s preferred candidates were victorious in a poll marred by controversies.
Fubara has also won the election for an opposition party, as he has yet to decamp from his party – the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
It also means his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, lost control of the state’s structure, at least for now.
Fubara and Wike have been at loggerheads over who controls the PDP structure in the state, with President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to resolve the stalemate ending in a fiasco.
The election was held amidst accusations of violence, intimidation, and a disrupted political atmosphere.
The ICIR reports that heightened tensions in the build-up to the poll across the state.
The ICIR also reported how an explosion rocked the APC secretariat in Port Harcourt just hours before the election.
The incident caused damage to the building’s main gate and security post, with videos showing the aftermath circulating on social media.
Reacting to the incident, the APC caretaker committee chairman, Tony Okocha, blamed Fubara’s supporters for the attack.
Okocha in a message sent to journalists in the state, accused the governor’s supporters of orchestrating the explosion to intimidate opposition forces and disrupt the electoral process.
Similarly, voters in Port Harcourt, at Ward 19 Elekahia, accused the police of firing shots and using teargas at the collation centre.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M