2023: Rivers PDP in desperate move to stop opposition

Elections in Rivers State often come with intriguing twists and the 2023 election is no different from past elections in the State.

With over 3.5 million registered voters and the strategic importance of the State at the national level, the battle over who controls the resources of the State becomes even more interesting.

The current governor, Nyesom Wike, will be completing his second tenure by May 29. This means a brand new government will emerge and with the incumbent governor not in the race, it leaves the contest wide open.

In 2019 it seemed like a one way ticket for the Peoples Democratic Party in the Governorship election after the Supreme Court disqualified all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress in that election. Thanks to a suit by the Peoples Democratic Party which challenged the congresses that led to the emergence of all the APC candidates for the election.

The Supreme Court judgement took the APC off the ballot, leaving the PDP with the “small” political parties to battle with in that election.

However, the African Action Congress (AAC) which was adopted by the APC to challenge governor Wike in the election put up a big stunt that almost scuttled the victory of the PDP.

A member of the APC, Mark Uche said “AAC was leading in that election before it was suspended by the Independent National Electoral Commission”.