Ibas Urges Peace As Rivers Residents Votes In LG Elections For Chairmen And Councillors

Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd), has urged residents to remain calm and peaceful as the state conducts its local government elections today.

Ibas made the appeal during a meeting with labour leaders and local government administrators at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

Voters across the 23 local government areas are expected to cast their ballots in 6,866 polling units to elect new chairmen and councillors.

The polls come six months and two days after the Supreme Court voided the local government elections held on October 5, 2024, by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).

Iba’s call for peace follows objections from some prominent Rivers indigenes who had appealed to President Bola Tinubu to stop the elections.

Five citizens had also taken the federal government, Ibas, and RSIEC to court over plans to go ahead with the polls.

Speaking on Friday, Ibas assured that adequate arrangements were already in place to ensure safety.

The Rivers sole proprietor urged voters to come out and exercise their rights without fear of harassment or intimidation.

He also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to transparency, staff welfare, and the completion of the ongoing verification exercise for state and local government workers.

According to him, the timing of the elections highlights the importance of accountable leadership at the grassroots.

“The elections are an important step towards restoring democratic governance at the grassroots. But leaders can only be held accountable when there is clarity on the human and material resources available to them,” the Administrator stated.

Giving updates on the verification exercise, Ibas revealed that “37,703 state staff verified, against a previous figure of over 43,000.

“19,186 state pensioners verified, compared to over 25,500. 2,004 local government pensioners verified out of over 2,600. 8,000 local government staff verified across seven LGAs, including Obio/Akpor, Bonny, Etche, and Degema.”

He set September 4, 2025, as the deadline for completing the verification of all local government staff, stressing that all necessary state resources would be deployed to meet the target.

KanyiDaily recalls that the Supreme Court previously declared the local government elections held in Rivers on October 5, 2024, invalid.