Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended governor of Rivers State and his supporters were conspicuously absent on Saturday during the local government chairmanship and councillorship elections in the state.
Fubara was not seen in his hometown of Opobo Local Government Area, even though elections held there on a limited scale.
This newspaper gathered that the governor was not in the state during the exercise.
Notable allies, including the former chief of staff to the Government House, Edison Ehie, the secretary to the state government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, the sacked 23 local government chairmen, and others, also failed to participate in the election.
Members of the Simplified Movement, a socio-political group loyal to Fubara, were similarly absent from voting centres.
When electoral materials arrived at Fubara’s polling unit in Ward 5, Opobo/Nkoro LGA around 11 a.m., there were expectations that the embattled governor—who recently reconciled with his political godfather, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike—would cast his vote.
However, by the time voting ended at about 3:30 p.m., Fubara did not turn up to exercise his constitutional right. As of press time, it was gathered that the suspended governor, who is expected to be recalled to office on September 18, had travelled to London and did not return before the polls.
On March 18, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State following a prolonged political crisis between Fubara and Wike, who commanded the loyalty of most lawmakers in the state.
The emergency rule led to the suspension of Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months. Tinubu also appointed Vice Admiral Ibok Ete Ibas (retd.) as the sole administrator of the state—a move that drew widespread condemnation from lawyers, politicians, and civil society groups.
Although Fubara and Wike later reached a peace deal, the agreement included the conduct of fresh local government elections, previously won by Fubara’s loyalists.
Ahead of the election, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) cleared several parties, including the PDP, APC, Labour Party, APGA, Accord, AAC, APP, and SDP.
The final list showed that the PDP fielded only three chairmanship candidates, while the APC presented candidates in 20 LGAs. Wike’s political structure, operating under the Renewed Hope Agenda, expressed confidence in victory.
According to insiders, 20 council seats were allocated to the APC under Chief Tony Okocha’s leadership, while three LGAs—Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City, and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni—were ceded to the PDP.
Meanwhile, Wike has expressed confidence that Fubara would return as governor once the emergency rule expires on September 18.
The FCT minister made the declaration after voting at his polling unit in Rumuepirikom, Ward 9, Obio/Akpor LGA.
He said, “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.
“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.”
Wike, however, questioned the non-use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), though he described the exercise as credible.