Rivers by-election: Voters defy morning rain

…Turn out in large numbers

From Tony John, Port Harcourt

The by-election held yesterday for Rivers South East Senatorial District in Rivers State, witnessed impressive turnout of voters despite morning downpour.

The exercise took place in the following seven local government areas affected by the by-election: Khana, Gokana, Tai, Eleme, Andoni,  Opobo and Oyigbo.

It was conducted to fill the vacant position created by the death of the former representative, Senator Barry Mpigi, who died in February, 2026.

The rainfall delayed the distribution of election materials to the various wards, leading to delay in accreditation in some areas.

However, accreditation of voters and actual voting went on simultaneously.

In areas like B-Dere Ward 4 in Gokana LGA, which is made up of 21 polling units, a large turnout of voters was recorded.

Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Senator Magnus Abe, voted in Ward 16 in his hometown in Bere community of Gokana LGA.

Speaking to newsmen after casting his vote, Abe said the voting was peaceful and successful and thanked the people for their support.

He expressed: “The election is very peaceful. There is no problem here. The weather has slowed turnout a bit, but I think it is improving and the turnout is also improving. So, we are very confident that this exercise will be very successful across the Senatorial District.”

Senator Abe, who had also represented the senatorial district, charged the people of the Rivers South-East District to go out and vote and commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting a free and fair by-election.

He charged: “You cannot sit in your house and complain. You cannot sit on social media and be complaining and then, when it is time to do the hard work as a citizen, you fail to do it.

“My appeal to all men and women of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District is to come out en masse and participate in this exercise. It is peaceful, it is fair and it is clearly transparent. I want to commend INEC for what they have put together.”

In Tai local government area, where the late Senator Barry Mpigi hailed from, the electorate defied the morning rain and came out to cast their votes.

Speaking after casting his vote, a stakeholder in the area, Gideon Demua, lauded the voters for coming out despite the downpour.

He said: “The enthusiasm of the electorate is amazing. By 7:15am almost all the Units were occupied for accreditation.

“Materials arrived on time and you can see the massive turn in all the units. People are voting. The challenges we are having is on the B-VAS. We are having network issues, technical issues in one or two units. We expect INEC to live up to expectations.”

Meanwhile, despite the restriction of movement from midnight of Friday, June 19 to 6pm Saturday, June 20 announced by the state Police Command, some shops opened for business in some areas.

The restriction had no effect on the Eleme axis of the East-West Road, as heavy duty vehicles, cars, tricycles were seen moving freely, carrying out their normal activities.

But, in Agbonchia, Aleto and Alesa communities of Eleme LGA, markets were closed while policemen were seen conducting stop and search along the Trailer Park axis of Onne.

The four major contestants and the political parties for the by-election included Dr. Douglas Fabeke of Action Alliance (AA), Osarosaka Ebenezer of All Progressives Congress (APC), Sam Barikpoa of Labour Party (LP) and Olaka Nwogu of People’s Democratic Party (PDP).