The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Saturday said he is hopeful that the “state of emergency” declared in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu would expire on September 18.
He disclosed this after casting his vote in the ongoing local government election in the state.
Wike noted that the expiration would pave the way for the state House of Assembly to resume its legislative duties.
“As far as we are concerned, this election is peaceful, people are trooping out and at the end of the day the election has been conducted successfully and peacefully.
“I do know that by September 18, the state of emergency will expire and the state assembly will come back to their job and we will have a government at the grassroots level,” Wike said.
The minister said the conditions were right for lifting the state of emergency since both state and local governments now had representation.
He added, “The coast is clear for the state of emergency to be lifted, being that the state government has its representative and the local government has its representatives, so we are good to go.”
The Rivers State government under Tinubu’s sole administrator, Ibok Ete-Ibas, insisted on holding the local government elections Saturday, despite condemnations from various quarters on the legitimacy of the exercise by a non-democratic regime.
The elections, which would take place across 6,866 polling units in 319 wards, come six months and two days after the Supreme Court nullified the local government election conducted on October 5, 2024, by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
The RSIEC under Ibas has faced fire even as it urged “eligible voters to come out in their numbers and peacefully exercise their civic duty of voting in the elections.”
