Rivers Council Polls: We Will Win All The 23 LGAs – APC Boasts

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The All Progressive Congress, APC, has expressed the optimism that it will sweep the Local Council Polls in Rivers State.

At the flag off of its official campaigns for the August 30, 2025, election, the National Vice Chairman, South-south, Chief Victor Giadom, said nothing will stop the APC from securing victory in all the 23 Councils of the State .

This is as the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, and other political groupings, aside fron the APC and its emergency ally, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have vowed to shun the exercise.

According to Giadom who was represented at the rally by Senator Magnus Abe, the APC, as the main opposition Party in Rivers State, is ready and rearing to snatch victory from other political parties.

He noted that the new found unity and cohesion within the party will propel it to a resounding victory come August 30 .

“The APC in Rivers State is united. The APC in Rivers State is strong. The APC in Rivers State is ready to deliver the dividends of democracy to the grassroots”, Giadom stated.

He, therefore, charged the party leadership in the state and the Chairmanship and Councilorship candidates to always try to project the good image of the Party as examplified by the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“The current Chairmen and Councilors of our Party, you are now the face of the Renewed Hope Agenda at the grassroots .

“You are the Tinubu that Rivers people will now look up to. We know that you will not disappoint us. The election, looking at this crowd here, is a no- contest .We are together, and we will deliver”, the National Vice Chairman assured .

Also speaking, the Rivers State APC  factional Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha,  while re-echoing the victory song of the National Vice Chairman , expressed satisfaction with the way and manner the Rivers state Independent Electoral Commission RSIEC has handled the process of the election.

According to Okocha, the transparent manner the Commission has adopted in the conduct of  the polls is the major reason the APC is participating in the exercise.

He noted that past elections were majorly marred by irregularities and insincerity of purpose.

“Today, we are bold; we are happy; we are excited to tell you that because the processes put in place by RSIEC are right, we are here to follow and support those processes.

“We are not just going to test the waters on August 30, we are going to contest and win the election in all the 23 Local Government Areas and 319 Wards of the State” Okocha stated .

This is just as he lauded the efforts of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister Nyesom Wike, for the new alliance between the PDP and APC in the countdown to the council polls.

“I am sure you are aware of the marriage of politicians in Rivers State weaved together by a son of the soil, under the umbrella of the Renewed Hope  2025”, he further noted.

The Source further reports that in  the alliance which did not come to  many as a surprise, PDP members were nominated as APC candidates and vice versa.

Curiously too, all are believed to be elements fiercely loyal to Wike who has been battling with his political godson, suspended Governor Similanayi Fubara for the soul of Rivers state.

But while the APC/PDP appears to be comfortable with the planned Local Council Polls, it is not so with the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, which has expressed its unflinching opposition to the exercise.

In a statement on Wednesday, August 13, the National Chairman of IPAC, Dr Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, informed that the umbrella body of Registered Political Parties in the country  has directed all member-parties to boycott the exercise

According to Dantalle,the Rivers state Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas has no constitutional powers to conduct a democratic election.

He maintained that as long as the country is not under any martial laws, the IPAC will not participate in any democratic election being conducted by an unelected official.

The IPAC National Chairman informed that the leadership of all political parties under it , has been adequately notified of the resolution to boycott the planned Local Council Election.

“The proposed Local Government Election in Rivers State is illegal, unconstitutional and a mockery of our emerging democracy.

“It is totally unacceptable and should be rejected by all lovers of constitutional governance in Nigeria. The Sole Administrator has no constitutional mandate to conduct a democratic election as if the nation is under a military regime.

“Only an an elected Governor has the constitutional powers to conduct a Local Government Election in collaboration with the State House of Assembly.

”The Sole Administrator cannot arrogate to himself powers in flagrant violation of the 1999 Constitution as amended. The Sole Administrator is not an Emperor with absolute power to rule as he pleases”, the IPAC National Chairman asserted .