Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have gathered in a rare show of unity to protest in Rivers State. The protest comes ahead of the controversial local government elections scheduled for October 5, 2024, which have been plagued by conflicting court rulings and political tension.
The protest follows the ongoing legal controversy surrounding the forthcoming elections. While a State High Court in Rivers ordered the elections to proceed using the 2023 voters’ register, a Federal High Court in Abuja barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), effectively putting the elections on hold. INEC has since confirmed that it has not yet released the 2023 voter register to RSIEC.
The situation has united unlikely allies in Rivers State. Both PDP members and a faction of the APC are protesting for a common cause—calling for RSIEC and Governor Sim Fubara to comply with the Federal High Court’s judgment and halt the elections.
Former Senator Shehu Sani, commenting on the unusual alliance between the two rival political parties, remarked on his X (formerly Twitter) account, “Rivers State is a state of miracles; it united APC and PDP in protest for a common cause.”