Rivers bye-election peaceful and transparent – Abe

… As Rivers South East elects senator

Magnus Abe, Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has described the ongoing bye-election in Rivers South East senatorial district as peaceful and transparent.

He was speaking to journalists at his polling unit in Bera Community, Gokana Local Government Area, after casting his vote on Saturday, June 20, 2026.

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 said.

Four political parties — Action Alliance (AA), All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP), and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) — fielded candidates to participate in Saturday’s bye-election for Rivers South East Senatorial District.

The candidates are Douglas Fabeke Beeka (AA), Osarosaka Ebenezer Erewari (APC), Sam Kinanee Barikpoa (LP), and Olaka Johnson Nwogu (PDP).

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

Voting, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is expected to take place across seven local government areas in Rivers State: the four Ogoni LGAs (Khana, Gokana, Tai, and Eleme) and three others — Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro, and Oyibo.

Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Rivers State, had earlier said the bye-election would take place in 1,629 polling units across 88 Registration Areas (RA/wards). He said INEC has also deployed 6,774 ad hoc staff to conduct the election, and the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will be used for voters’ accreditation and verification.