Civil Society Situation Room Condemns Rivers LG Elections, Calls for End to State of Emergency

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has condemned the conduct of Local Government elections in Rivers State despite the subsisting State of Emergency declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu earlier this year.

In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by the Convener Yunusa Z. Ya’u, along with co-conveners Franklin Oloniju and Mimidoo Achakpa on behalf of the Situation Room, the coalition described the polls held on August 30, 2025, as unconstitutional and a blatant violation of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The group noted that Sections 5 and 305 make no provision for elections to be conducted during a State of Emergency.

“Why must the State of Emergency last the full six months when the events that triggered it have objectively abated? If elections were imperative, would it not have been constitutionally proper to lift the State of Emergency before scheduling them?” the group queried.

The Situation Room further raised concerns about the credibility of the electoral process, citing suspicious figures, particularly in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, where the reported 328,823 votes were nearly equivalent to the total votes cast in the entire state during the 2023 presidential election. This, it argued, contradicted the visibly low voter turnout recorded across polling units.

The coalition recalled its earlier condemnation of the President’s decision on March 18, 2025, to declare a State of Emergency, remove the duly elected governor and deputy governor, and suspend the state legislature for six months. It also criticised the National Assembly for failing to act as a constitutional check on what it called “Executive overreach.”

Situation Room urged the Supreme Court to expedite ruling on the suit filed by 11 governors challenging the constitutionality of the emergency declaration. It called on the judiciary to nullify both the declaration and all actions taken under it, including last weekend’s local government elections.

The group stressed that the development undermines democracy and the rule of law, drawing parallels with the 2013 emergency rule in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States under former President Goodluck Jonathan, when elections were suspended in line with constitutional provisions.

They urged other civil society groups, the media, and citizens of Rivers State to resist undemocratic practices and demand respect for constitutional order.

“The President must correct this anomaly and uphold respect for the Constitution and democracy,” the statement concluded.