The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has expressed confidence that the conduct of the Rivers local government elections was a step closer to the end of emergency rule in the coastal state.
Ezenwo Wike spoke on Saturday in Rumepirikom, Ward 9, Unit 007, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state after voting in the Rivers council elections.
Wike said, “Having done this, then the coast is clear for the state of emergency to be lifted, meaning that the local government has representatives, the state government has its own elected representatives.So we are good to go.”
He added that by September 18, the state of emergency would expire, and the state governor and state assembly would resume their duties, with elected officials at the grassroots level.
Wike hailed the conduct of the elections, describing it as peaceful and successful.
“I am very happy. It means that people identify with the elections,” he said
He dismissed concerns about voter apathy, saying, “You have not heard of any violence. You have not heard of [people] carrying ballot boxes.
”You see that the electoral materials are there. People are there casting their votes. As far as we are concerned, the elections are very peaceful”, he said.
The elections came six months after the Supreme Court nullified a previous one conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
In March, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, citing rising tensions over a months-long political impasse between Wike and his successor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The President suspended Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Oduh, and members of the Rivers State Assembly for a period of six months, naming a sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retired), to run the state
