No fewer than 15 political parties on Friday pulled out the chairmanship and councillorship elections being organized by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) in 22, out of the 23 local government areas in the state, today, Saturday, May 23, 2015.

This is as the Rivers State Police Command today ordered restriction of movement of vehicles across the state, ahead of the local government elections, saying movements would be restricted from 10.00pm today, Friday, May 22, to 6.00am tomorrow, Saturday, May 23, and from 9.00am to 6.00pm of Saturday.

The position of the 15 political parties was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a joint meeting in Port Harcourt, which was read by the chairman of Labour Party (LP) in the state, Prince Favour Reuben.

Emphasizing that RSIEC was not prepared to conduct the election, Reuben stated that there is so much insincerity in the process for the conduct of the local government election, and urged the electoral umpire to obey a Court order which mandated all parties to maintain status quo.

He said, “We have lost confidence in the ability to conduct a free and fair election. In particular, while RSIEC had claimed that INEC has released the Voters’ Register to it, INEC informed the public that no such register has been released to RSIEC. This is outright deceit and embarrassing. It has come to our knowledge that the RSIEC has breached relevant laws, rules and deviated from observing due process.

“RSIEC should comply with the ruling of the Federal High Court, maintaining status quo in the case seeking to restrain INEC from releasing the current Voters’ Register to RSIEC. RSIEC should immediately postpone the election.”

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Rivers State Police Command, Ahmad Muhammad, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, said the restriction of movement of vehicles is aim to ensure peace and serenity across the state before, during and after Local Government election.

The statement reads in part, “The Rivers State Police Command wishes to inform the general public that ahead of the Rivers State local government election that is scheduled to hold on Saturday, May 23, 2015, it has ordered a restriction of movement of vehicles across the state between 10pm on Friday May 22, 2015 till 6am on Saturday May 23, 2015 in the first lap, and finally between 9am and 6pm on same Saturday May 23, 2015.

“The restriction is aim to ensure peace and serenity across the state before, during and after local government election. This restriction excludes vehicles on essential duty such as Fire Service, Ambulances accredited election observers and vehicles used by Rivers State Independent National Electoral Commission and law enforcement/security agencies.

“The Command assures that adequate security logistics and manpower have been tactically emplaced to realize a most peaceful electioneering atmosphere. In this regard, Policemen for election duty have been properly briefed on their roles as stipulated in the Electoral Act. They however are expected to be professional, non-partisan, civil but firm in their approach and relation to the public.”