Issued in Abuja -Wednesday, 3rd September 2025
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) strongly condemns the recently conducted Local Government elections in Rivers State on Saturday, 30th August 2025 and swearing-in of the Chairmen despite the subsisting State of Emergency declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday, 18th March 2025.
The recently conducted Local Government elections in Rivers State is unconstitutional as Sections 5 and 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) make no provision for elections to be held while a State of Emergency is in place. Situation Room, therefore, describes the Local Government election as unconstitutional. If Local Government elections were truly imperative, would it not have been constitutionally proper to lift the State of Emergency before scheduling them? Why must the State of Emergency last the full six months when the events that triggered it have objectively abated?
The figures of the votes coming out of the elections also raise questions on the credibility of the process. For example, the total votes in Obio-Akpor Local Government show a record of 328,823, a figure slightly below the 369,949 total votes cast in the whole of Rivers State during the 2023 Presidential election. Images online showed low voter turnout, as many residents preferred to stay home rather than participate in the Local Government elections. This is unfortunate, especially since some politicians claim to support Local Government autonomy while clearly interfering in local politics.
In a statement issued on 19th March 2025, Situation Room had condemned the imposition of the State of Emergency, the removal of the duly elected Governor and Deputy Governor, and the suspension of the State House of Assembly for six months.
On 8th April 2025, Situation Room further denounced the announcement by Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd.), the Sole Administrator appointed by the President to oversee Rivers State, of the release of previously withheld local government allocations. These funds had been withheld due to failure to conduct constitutionally required local government elections in the State.
Despite repeated calls for the National Assembly to act as a check on Executive overreach, the Legislature endorsed the President’s declaration of a State of Emergency and has remained silent in the face of blatant disregard for constitutional processes and the steady erosion of democratic norms in Rivers State.
Again, these elections and the whole situation in Rivers State continue to undermine democratic governance and the rule of law in Nigeria. It is worth recalling that when President Goodluck Jonathan declared a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States in May 2013 due to the Boko Haram insurgency, the then Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, unequivocally stated that elections would not hold in those States during the period to avoid contravening the law. He also advised against the conduct of the Yobe State Local Government election that was scheduled for 28th December 2013.
On 8th April 2025, eleven (11) State Governors approached the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the President’s action in declaring a State of Emergency in Rivers State, with a decision yet pending.
Situation Room recognises the crucial role of the Judiciary in curbing Executive excesses and upholding democratic principles, as the Courts are aptly described as ‘the last hope of the common man’. It is on this basis that Situation Room calls on the Supreme Court to prioritise the matter before it, nullify the State of Emergency and declare all undemocratic activities carried out during the period null and void, including the Local Government elections conducted on Saturday, 30 August 2025.
Situation Room also calls on the President to correct this anomaly and uphold respect for the Constitution and democracy.
Finally, Nigerian citizens (particularly indigenes of Rivers State), civil society organisations, and the media need to speak up and resist this undemocratic development and defend Nigeria’s Constitution.
SIGNED:
Yunusa Z. Ya’u
Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room
Franklin Oloniju
Co-Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room
Mimidoo Achakpa
Co-Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room
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The Situation Room is made up of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in support of credible elections and governance in Nigeria numbering more than seventy. The Steering Committee is made up of: Action Aid Nigeria, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), CLEEN Foundation, Emma Ezeazu Centre for Good Governance and Accountability (formerly Alliance for Credible Elections, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Kimpact Development Initiative, Democratic Action Group (DAG), Women’s Rights to Education Programme, Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD), DIG Ebonyi, Life And Peace Development Organization (LAPDO), Rural Youth Initiative, Challenged Parenthood Initiative (CPI), Centre for Health and Development in Africa (CHEDA) and Josemaria Escriva Foundation.
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