By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Amidst a rousing reception by thousands of supporters at the Port Harcourt International Airport, former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, on Wednesday July 23, 2025, said it is time to end the notorious regime of election manipulations in the State.
The immediate past Minister of Transportation, who is one of the arrowheads of the emerging Coalition opposition Coalition platform the African Democratic Congress ADC, also urged Nigerians to have implicit faith in the abilities of the Coalition to free the country from the bondage into which it has been held by the All Progressive Congress APC led administration.
Amaechi’s supporters, doning the ADC branded t-shirts and caps, had defiled heavy rain on the day to formally welcome him back to Rivers state from Abuja after successfully joining with like minds to birth the Coalition platform on July 2, 2025.
Other prominent figures within the Coalition include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, forner Senate President, David Mark, former Kaduna state Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai, former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, and many more.
David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola are at the head of the ADC leadership as Interim National Chairman and Secretary respectively.
Amaechi who, only Tuesday, July 22, made public his formal resignation from the APC, while addressing the supporters, regretted that over the years, Rivers State has been widely acknowledged as a centre of election rigging in the country.
He expressed serious concern that such inglorious tag, has also not been helped by the desperation shown by some forces in appropriating the state before the 2027.
According to him, some unscrupulous political elements who ordinarily cannnot win a Local Council Election in a free and fair contest, have been flaunting their unmerited electoral strength after massively rigging elections in the State.
“Our state is now notorious for writing election results. Unfortunately, after mutilating original result sheets to write huge and unmerited figures, they proceed to be boasting about their electoral strength.
“But this time around, we must stop them. We must confront this shameful rigging culture in the politics of Rivers State.
“They make so much noise after intimidating people, and writing election results. Now is the time to stop them from writing results. If you successfully stop them from writing results, from producing mutilated result sheets, their emptiness will be exposed.
“This shameful and barefaced culture of writing election results have characterized elections in the State for ten years. But this time, we will confront the roguish system”, Amaechi vowed .
The former Rivers State Governor who also addressed party faithful at the ADC State Secretariat, urged Nigerians to keep hope alive, while stressing the unwavering commitment of the Coalition to reignite the hope and aspirations of the people.
While suing for unity, and cooperation among party members and supporters, Amaechi appealed for peace and restraints, even in the face of provocations .
The Source reports that the results of the 2023 general elections in Rivers state, particularly, the presidential polls, were adjudged the most disputed in the entire country.
The election saw President Bola Ahmed Tinubu lead the pack with 231,593 votes ,as against Obi’s 175,071.
But not a few observers and analysts allege that the result did not reflect the true situation in the State.
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
