Olaka Nwogu, Wike’s ally, wins Rivers senatorial bye-election for PDP

Olaka Nwogu, Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, has been declared the winner of the Rivers South-East bye-election held on Saturday.

Rosemary Ogumade, a Professor and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the Rivers South-East bye-election, said Nwogu won by 47,961 votes.

His closest rival, Osarosaka Ebenezer Erewari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), received 1,647 votes; Douglas Fabeke Beeka of the Action Alliance (AA) received 1,175, and Sam Kinanee Barikpoa of the Labour Party (LP) received 367.

Nwogu had earler represented the Senatorial District in 2015. His victory on Saturday further strengthens the Nyesom Wike-led Rainbow Coalition’s claim to political dominance in Rivers State.

Reports claim the coalition, led by Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), extensively mobilised its members for Nwogu’s candidacy, a move seen as highlighting the alliance between the State Chapters of the APC and the PDP.

The bye-election became necessary following Barry Mpigi’s demise in February 2026, which left the Rivers South-East Senatorial seat vacant.

Magnus Abe, Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), after casting his vote on Saturday, described the Rivers South-East Senatorial District bye-election as peaceful and transparent.

Abe, who formerly represented the Senatorial District at the Senate, further described the bye-election as a marked improvement from previous exercises.

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

Abe described the election as an improvement over the 2023 election, noting that “there have been changes in the law, and there are also changes in the dynamics. At the time, a lot of the machines didn’t work, but now everything is working.

“So the complaints we had last time — we cannot have them today because the process has improved and things are working better. My belief is that every exercise, every election cycle should be better than the last one, not worse”, he added.