Governor Fubara’s loyalists win 22 local government areas in Rivers

Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s loyalists who contested the local government elections under the Action Peoples Party (APP) have won 22 out of the 23 chairmanship positions.

Chief Election Officer of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, declared the result in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Saturday night.

Enebeli said the announcement of Etche, the only Local Government Area where chairmanship result has not been declared, would be made later.

Fubara had directed his loyalists to defect to APP to contest the election, after Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike’s loyalists emerged winners of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) congress held in September.

Wike’s men had pulled out of the election, which was challenged in court, but Governor Fubara went ahead to organise the election. The All Progressives Congress (APC) also boycotted the election.

The election held amidst some violence after the police withdrew it’s officers and men from the exercise.