Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, (RSIEC), Justice Adolphus Enebeli has assured that the scheduled October, 5th, 2024 date for the local government Council elections will hold as planned.
This is even as the RSIEC Chairman
has disclosed that out of the nineteen registered political parties, eighteen would be participating in the elections.
He noted that the ten days nationwife #Endbsbdgovernment protest affected the timetable, while he assured that names of contestants who were successfully screened will be published before end of September, 2024.
The RSIEC chairman gave the assurance during a Training of Master Trainers for Rivers RSIEC programme held for Staffers of the commission.
Enebeli cited the state electoral law and the recent judgement of the Supreme Court which empowers them to conduct the scheduled elections.
The chairman further declared that there is no current judgment or any other impediment against the conduct of the local government council elections, saying that RSIEC as the electoral umpire in the state is fully ready and prepared for the conduct of the elections on October, 5th, 2024.
He said: “As a retired judicial officer, we are well disposed to absorb surprises. One of the ingredients of the legal profession is the ability to accommodate disagreement. This is the essence of democracy and the electoral process that we want to embark on will seek to deepen and sustain democracy.
“I start by saying that there are 22 Caretaker committees spread all over the place of Nigeria. The 22 Caretaker Committees all over the state have slated elections. Akwa Ibom, we have the same date, Kwara had theirs. On the 11th of July this year, the Supreme Court of this nation, the highest Court of the land laid it down, emphatically in its judgment that democratically elected local government elections should be conducted in all the states that have not done so. And the consequences will follow if you do not, that is it.
“Section 60 subsection 2 of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Law of 2018, spelt it out. Section 15 of the Electoral Act 2023 as Amended, look at it there, INEC has the responsibility to give state electoral umpire voters register.
“There is no judgment as at yet perpetually restraining us from conducting the election. Rivers State people, even the Federal government is enthusiastically expecting us to conduct local government election and so, on the 5th of October 2024, that date, by the grace of God, is as invariable as it is sacrosanct.”
Addressing the trainers, the RSIEC Chairman described the exercise as an investment that would help the electoral process have integrity.
Justice Enebeli while reminding the master trainers that their role which is to train the RSIEC ad-hoc staff and other electoral officers, assured that the commission is determined for free, fair, credible and violent election free in elections.
