PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria — Suspected arsonists detonated explosives at the All Progressives Congress, APC, secretariat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in the early hours of Saturday, destroying property and causing significant damage.
The explosion, which targeted the APC office on Aba Road, brought down the gate of the secretariat, shattered windows and doors, and damaged other property at the premises.
This is not the first time such an attack has been carried out at the APC secretariat in Rivers State.
While the party has yet to release an official statement regarding the incident, the explosion comes at a time of heightened tension between the APC and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over the conduct of local government elections.
The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) confirmed on Friday that the local government elections would proceed as scheduled on October 5, 2024, despite the ongoing political dispute.
In a statement by Tobin Tamunotonye, RSIEC’s Commissioner for Civil Education and Public Affairs, the commission emphasised that it is fully empowered to carry out the elections under the RSIEC Law of 2018 and a recent ruling by the Rivers State High Court.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we emphasize unequivocally that the 5th October 2024 Local Government Council Elections in Rivers State will hold as scheduled, and there is no going back,” the statement read.
The commission has already transported non-sensitive materials to over 6,300 polling units across the state, and updated voter registers for 2023 have been made available.
The dispute over the local elections has seen both the APC and PDP at odds with the electoral commission and Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The explosion at the APC secretariat adds another layer of tension to an already volatile political atmosphere, as both parties prepare for the election.
As of now, investigations into the attack are ongoing, and security measures have been heightened across the state to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections. Authorities have yet to identify the individuals behind the attack.
