Rivers South-East By-Election: INEC Assures Security as Four Candidates Vie for Senate Seat

Author: Gist Correspondent

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured voters and stakeholders of adequate security arrangements ahead of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District by-election scheduled for Saturday.

The by-election, being conducted to fill the vacant seat following the death of former senator Barry Mpigi, will see four candidates contesting for the position across the seven local government areas that make up the district.

Speaking during the inspection and distribution of sensitive election materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) branch in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Johnson Sinikiem, said security agencies had guaranteed comprehensive deployment of personnel across both land and riverine communities.

According to him, the assurance followed a meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), where all relevant security agencies pledged their readiness to ensure a peaceful and credible exercise.

Sinikiem expressed confidence that the election would proceed without major security concerns, noting that adequate measures had been put in place to respond swiftly to any unforeseen situation.

“We do not anticipate any major security challenge, but even if any arises, we are confident that it can be effectively managed,” he said.

The REC also dismissed concerns over alleged missing result sheets, insisting that all electoral materials were complete and would be deployed in accordance with INEC guidelines.

A total of 858,573 registered voters are expected to participate in the poll across 1,629 polling units in the senatorial district. To strengthen oversight, INEC has deployed three supervising Resident Electoral Commissioners from Delta, Adamawa and Katsina states.

Four political parties are participating in the contest. They include Fabeke Douglas of the Action Alliance (AA), Osarosaka Ebenezer Erewari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sam Kinanee Barikpoa of the Labour Party (LP), and Olaka Nwogu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Rivers South-East by-election is one of several off-cycle elections being conducted across the country, alongside senatorial, House of Representatives and state assembly polls in other states.