Rivers: Conducting council polls under sole administrator illegal, says Tonye Cole

August 10, 2025 by Our Reporter

Former All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has criticised the planned August 30 local government elections, describing them as unconstitutional and a danger to democracy.

Cole, one of 22 prominent Rivers leaders who petitioned President Bola Tinubu over the polls, argued that the process lacked legitimacy since there is no lawfully constituted Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission.

He noted that the mandatory 90-day notice was not given, legal challenges to the sole administrator’s appointment were still pending, and the arrangement breached both the spirit and letter of the constitution.

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“Regardless of whether the sole administrator’s appointment was right or wrong, that is before the courts. But because that process is on, it is very careless to conduct local government elections under that canopy,” Cole said in an interview.

He urged that the sole administrator’s term, which ends next month, be allowed to expire so elections can be held under a legitimate government, adding that the peace deal between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now makes it possible for the governor to conduct the polls once he resumes full duties.

Cole said, “If the peace is real, then the state governor will be coming back to office in a month’s time, at which point you can conduct council elections under an elected, legitimate government. I cannot understand this rush unless there is something untoward. Things just do not add up.”

He recalled that a similar election previously conducted under contentious circumstances in the state was nullified by the Supreme Court, warning that the current exercise could suffer the same fate.