Peter Obi Slams Rivers LG Election, Calls It a Mockery of Democracy
Story written by Okafor Joseph Myra Chinonso 1,2025
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has condemned the recently concluded local government election in Rivers State, describing it as nothing short of a “mockery of democracy.”
In a statement shared on his official X account late Sunday, Obi criticized the process, stating that it represents “rascality taken too far” and amounts to a double tragedy for Nigeria’s democratic system.
He faulted the conduct of the polls under a Sole Administrator, whom he described as illegally appointed, stressing that such an arrangement defeats the essence of democracy, which should empower the people.
“When a Sole Administrator, illegally appointed, conducts an election that should empower the people, it is not democracy but an outright desecration of its very foundation,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor maintained that the exercise was unconstitutional, legally untenable, and morally indefensible. He warned that such practices set a dangerous precedent where the rule of law is disregarded at the whim of those in power.
“Illegality can never give birth to legitimacy. Any structure erected on a foundation of lawlessness is a danger to both the state and the people. Nigeria cannot afford to continue on this perilous path. We cannot pretend to practise democracy while silencing the will of the people – especially at the grassroots, where democracy matters most,” he added.
