ADC Rejects Rivers Council Polls, Heads to Court

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Rivers State has announced its outright rejection of the recently concluded local government elections and is set to challenge the results in court.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, the State Chairman of the ADC, Leader Sampson, described the August 30th poll as a “charade” and a “mockery of democracy,” vowing to pursue legal action against the outcome.

The party condemned the exercise, stating it did not participate due to the “illegality of the process.”

According to Sampson, “The African Democratic Congress, Rivers State Chapter, strongly condemns the charade called the Local Government Election, purportedly conducted on Saturday, August 30, 2025.

“The exercise was not only illegal and unconstitutional, but it also represents a brazen assault on democracy. It cannot and will not stand.

“This so-called election is nothing more than an attempt by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to impose his handpicked candidates on the people of Rivers State.”

The ADC also pointed to a contradiction in the conduct of the poll, noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had previously declared the state unsafe for a bye-election earlier in the year.

“We recall that during the national bye-elections earlier this year, INEC failed to conduct elections in Rivers State—specifically in Khana Constituency 2 on the grounds that the State was under emergency rule and therefore unsafe.

“If INEC, with its national mandate and resources, could not conduct a single constituency election under these conditions, how then could RSIEC claim to conduct elections across all 23 LGAs of Rivers State under the same so-called emergency?”

The party further criticised the Federal Government, alleging that “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself, recognising the unlawfulness of the exercise, suspended parts of the Constitution midway through the process.

“This amounts to changing the rules in the middle of the game—an unacceptable and dangerous precedent in any democracy,” Sampson stated.

The ADC urged its members and supporters to remain calm but resolute, declaring that “this brazen subversion of democracy will be met with equal determination.

“We will fight for our freedom. We will fight for our future. We will fight for the soul of Rivers State.”

The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) had announced that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won 20 of the 23 local government areas, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winning the remaining three.