Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the planned council elections to be conducted by Ibok-Ete Ibas, the sole administrator appointed by President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Abubakar, in a post on X on Saturday, frowned at plans to conduct council elections by the Rivers’ sole administrator.

Sharing an advertorial by stakeholders posted on X by Atedo Peterside, condemning the planned election, Mr Abubakar said, “It is in one’s interest to help put out the fire in your neighbour’s house to safeguard against your house being torched.”*

He added, “I agree that what is playing out in Rivers State, with an illegal sole administrator, unknown to our constitution, conducting council elections, has implications for the rest of the country. I join other men and women of goodwill to condemn this absurdity unequivocally.”

This comes months after Mr Tinubu sacked Governor Sim Fubara and other elected officials in Rivers, appointing Mr Ibas as sole administrator after declaring a state of emergency in the state.

The advertorial, an open letter addressed to Mr Tinubu and posted by Mr Peterside, was signed by political stakeholders in Rivers State.

The advertorial reads: “We, the undersigned stakeholders and advocates for democratic principles in Rivers State, express deep concern over the ongoing violation of constitutional governance and due process in the unlawful attempt to hold Local Government Council elections in the State.”

Mr Peterside and others are challenging the legality of sole administrator Mr Ibas conducting the election in the state.

“The proposed Local Government Council elections in Rivers State are nothing short of an existential assault on our democracy and a brazen flouting of Nigeria’s Constitution. These elections, orchestrated by a ‘Sole Administrator’ with no constitutional mandate and allegedly imposed by the Federal Government, threaten the very foundations of our federal system, the rule of law, and the peace of Rivers State,” the advertorial said.