Rivers APC targets 600,000 members, flags off e-registration exercise

…Party fight ghost membership

The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may have targeted over 600,000 membership strength. This is as the party has flagged off an e-registration exercise that would weed off ghost members.

Membership registration exercise of the APC has always been an issue in Rivers State due to divisions. Some camps have always boycotted it, but the party has flagged off another scheme in January 2026.

The exercise is aimed at creating an authentic membership data base to come up with authentic and verifiable data to know and deal with genuine party members.

To achieve this, the party led by Tony Okocha formally flagged off the commencement of the APC electronic registration of members in the state.

According to Jacobs Chimezie Happiness, Special Assistant (Media & Communication) to the chairman, Okocha spoke at the flag-off ceremony held at the APC Rivers State Secretariat, saying it marked a significant step in strengthening the party’s internal structure and membership database in line with national party reforms.

The turnout was huge as event was massively attended by members of the State Working Committee as well as trained coordinators and registration trainees drawn from the 23 Local Government Areas of the state. Okocha said: “The exercise is aimed at deepening grassroots participation, enhancing transparency, and positioning the party for effective mobilisation ahead of future political engagements.”

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Speaking further at the event, Okocha emphasized the importance of technology-driven party administration, noting that the e-registration exercise would ensure accuracy, inclusiveness, and credibility in the APC membership register across Rivers State. He emphasized that everybody should be registered without any discrimination. This must be to create smooth entry of anybody from any faction such as the camp led by Emeka Beke.

Also speaking, Eric Nwibani, the party’s state secretary, said the exercise was aimed at positioning Rivers State among the leading APC states nationwide, after Lagos and Kano.

Nwibani disclosed that the party was collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure that only genuine individuals were registered.

He stated thus: “This time, we want to be sure that everyone registered is a human being. That is why we partnered with NIMC, which gives us access to part of its database, so we are not starting from scratch,” he said.

He noted that Rivers State has 319 registration areas and 6,866 polling units, adding that registering even 100 persons per polling unit would surpass the state’s population benchmark.
“We expect everyone to take this exercise seriously. Once we begin, our numbers will steadily rise, and in the coming days, we will be competing favourably with states currently ahead of us,” Nwibani said.

In the past, the camp handling the registration was always accused of using it to disfavor members outside their own camp. Now, Okocha said the door is open to all persons willing to join the party, and directed the registrars to give all applicants free access to become members.