Civil society groups in Nigeria have strongly condemned the planned local government elections in Rivers State, scheduled for August 30, 2025, describing the move as “an aberration to the constitution and a rape on our democracy”.
Executive Director of Speak Out Africa Initiative (SOAI), Engr. Kenneth Eze, and spokesperson for the Alliance of Civil Society Organisations for Expansion of Electoral and Democratic Space (ACCESS), stated, “Such move amounts to a direct assault on Nigeria’s democratic framework and a blatant violation of both the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2022, while describing it as a joke now taken too far.”
Eze emphasised that the appointment of a Sole Administrator to replace the democratically elected Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, “lacks fundamental legal backing and is void ab initio”. He added, “This action if allowed to stand, is a rape on our hard-earned democracy”.
The groups argue that the planned elections violate Section 150(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, which mandates a 90-day minimum notice period, whereas RSIEC has given only a 21-day notice. Eze remarked, “This is the same reason the Supreme Court nullified the October 2024 local government elections in Rivers State citing inadequate notice, non-updated voter registers, and procedural violations”.
ACCESS is calling for the immediate suspension of the planned elections, restoration of constitutional order, and the return of the democratically elected Governor to office. Eze urged, “We strongly call on Mr. President to suspend the state of emergency in Rivers state and bring the elected Governor back to office. It is then we can begin to rebuild the cracked democratic walls and restore confidence in democracy before it becomes too late”.
The coalition has also called on RSIEC to halt preparations for the August 30 LG elections, INEC and the judiciary to intervene and uphold constitutional order, and the President to restore democratic governance in Rivers State.