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Leaders say polls violate 1999 Constitution and RSIEC Law
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No legally constituted electoral body in place, notice requirement ignored
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Court cases still pending over sole administrator and election legality
Key political stakeholders and pro-democracy advocates in Rivers State have denounced the planned August 30 local government elections, warning that the process is unconstitutional and undermines Nigeria’s democratic order.
In a Friday statement addressed to President Bola Tinubu, the group described the proposed polls as “an existential assault on democracy” and a “brazen flouting of Nigeria’s Constitution,” accusing the Federal Government of backing an unelected appointee with no lawful mandate to oversee the exercise.
Citing Sections 2, 3, 5, and 12 of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) Law, 2018, they noted that the state currently has no legally constituted RSIEC, as only a governor elected by the people—confirmed by the State House of Assembly—can appoint its chairman and members.
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The stakeholders faulted RSIEC for failing to provide the mandatory 90-day election notice required under Section 20 of its law, likening the rushed August 30 date to procedural lapses that led the Supreme Court to void the 2024 polls. They also stressed that multiple court cases—including at the Supreme Court and Federal High Court—are still challenging the legality of the sole administrator and the commission itself.
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They warned that Rivers State remains in a constitutional crisis, with its executive and legislative arms suspended by the Federal Government, and questioned how local government elections could proceed when even INEC has deemed by-elections impossible under such conditions.
The leaders called on President Tinubu, the National Assembly, the judiciary, civil society, the media, and the international community to intervene, saying the state stands at a crossroads between “surrendering to impunity” and “upholding the Constitution and the will of the people.”
