The upcoming local government elections in Rivers State have come under fire from Jake Epelle, human right activist. Epelle, the Chief Executive Officer of TAF Africa argued that the process has “failed the integrity test.”
He criticised the emergence of candidates from both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing it as a “concoction” designed to deceive the people.
During an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Epelle expressed his distrust in the electoral process, stating that it was a “properly scripted drama.”
He alleged that the candidates were loyalists of the FCT minister who were being “compensated and rewarded” with positions they were not intellectually or morally equipped to hold.
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He also challenged former local government chairmen to make their records public, expressing a fundamental lack of faith in the legal and judicial processes surrounding the elections. The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) has scheduled the polls for August 30, 2025.
According to RSIEC Chairman Michael Odey, the date was revised following a state of emergency declared in the state. The new timeline includes dates for party primaries, candidate screenings, and the main election.
However, Epelle maintains that the entire process lacks legitimacy and urged residents to exercise restraint and trust in “divine intervention” or “judicial intervention” to address the flaws he perceives in the electoral process.
The state is currently under emergency rule, led by a retired naval chief, Ibok-Ete Ibas.
