On Saturday, October 5, some policemen allegedly teargassed voter stations at Elekahia Primary School in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, disrupting the local government elections.
Approximately 20 patrol vans filled with the heavily armed personnel arrived at the scene, where officers fired teargas into the premises while voting was underway, witnesses said.
Earlier, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) had begun distributing sensitive materials to local government areas (LGAs) for the election.
Voting commenced in the early hours of Saturday across several LGAs, with voters casting ballots in some polling units while others awaited the arrival of election materials.
An explosion reportedly occurred hours before the election at the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress faction led by Tony Okocha, the ex-chairman of the APC caretaker committee in the state.
Tensions have risen in Rivers due to the ongoing power struggle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
On September 30, a Federal High Court in Abuja barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the 2023 voter register to RSIEC.
The court also prohibited the Inspector-General of Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) from providing security for the election. On October 2, INEC confirmed it had not released the voter register to RSIEC in compliance with the court’s ruling.
On October 3, a crowd gathered at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Port Harcourt to protest against the planned local government election. However, Fubara reiterated his commitment to proceed with the election.
On Friday, Fubara visited the RSIEC office in Port Harcourt amid claims that police officers intended to halt the election. Police operatives had barricaded the facility where electoral materials were stored.
Fubara stated that the presence of police officers at the RSIEC premises was unnecessary, accusing the Inspector-General of Police of taking orders from Wike to disrupt the election.
In response to Fubara’s remarks, the Nigeria Police Force asserted that its actions in Rivers complied with the judgment of the Federal High Court.
