CSO said the election of the ‘non -constitutional’ Rivers Council, urged the boycott

A group of advocacy under the auspices of the River Civil Society Organization (RIVCSO), has asked people in the state of Rivers to boycott what he described as the election of a local council that violates the law organized by a single administrator who is not constitutional, representative of the Admiral Ibok Ete-Ibas (Retd).

The coalition, in a statement on Sunday, strongly condemned the proposed LG election scheduled on August 30, saying such elections not only violate the law but to democratic norms.

The statement was signed together by the Chairman of Rivcso, Camelarad Enefaa Georgewill and his spokesman, Tuka Loanyie, said that his party refused the proposed election, saying that it was an illegal exercise that threatened the democratic rights of the country’s people and damaged the rule of law.

The part of the statement reads:

“As a CSO coalition that is committed to upholding democratic principles, we firmly support the following things:

“The only administrator is illegal and does not have legal authority to manage or conduct elections for river people.

“To avoid doubts, the current composition of the Rivers’s Independent Election Commission (RSIEC) is illegal and non -constitutional, because it is not determined by the elected governor properly, as required by the 198 part of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

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“The newly formed RISEC violated the Election Law, which mandated a minimum notification of 90 days for the election. Announcement on July 28, 2025, for the election on August 30, 2025, failed to meet these requirements, making the process invalid.

“If they claim that they rely on the previous memo of illegal RISEEC members, we are forced to ask the reasons behind their sacks. Why now fire the council formed legally by the elected River State Governor?

“We strongly oppose the election that violates the law and calls people and political parties to boycott this fake training. Exercises that do not have space for preliminary elections, manifesto, and campaigns cannot be referred to be fair let alone transparent.

“We demand direct answers regarding funding sources for the election that violates the law. We ask the illegal single administrator to explain to the people where he gets money to fund this play called the local government election.

“We warn that the administrator was to waste the taxpayer money in this illegal election, which will be challenged in court and canceled as a waste of time and the Rivers State people’s time and resources.

“We urge all residents of the river state to remain peaceful and refrain from participating in this invalid process, because the election will not survive.

“Our organization will submit the ownership of this illegal regime for all related authorities for a comprehensive investigation.

“Boycott election now!”