𝙄𝙉𝙀𝘾 𝙃𝙊𝙇𝘿𝙎 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙆𝙀𝙃𝙊𝙇𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙎’ 𝙀𝙉𝙂𝘼𝙂𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙊𝙉 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙐𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝙑𝙊𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙍𝙀𝙂𝙄𝙎𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙄𝙉 𝙋𝙊𝙍𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙍𝙏 𝘾𝙄𝙏𝙔 𝙇𝙂𝘼

𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙎 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙀

𝙄𝙉𝙀𝘾 𝙃𝙊𝙇𝘿𝙎 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙆𝙀𝙃𝙊𝙇𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙎’ 𝙀𝙉𝙂𝘼𝙂𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙊𝙉 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙐𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝙑𝙊𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙍𝙀𝙂𝙄𝙎𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙄𝙉 𝙋𝙊𝙍𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙍𝙏 𝘾𝙄𝙏𝙔 𝙇𝙂𝘼

February 4, 2026.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, convened a Local Government Stakeholders’ Engagement Meeting at the Secretariat of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, as part of ongoing efforts to deepen public participation in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

The meeting attracted a broad spectrum of stakeholders drawn from across the Local Government Area, including traditional rulers, academicians, political leaders, representatives of civil society organizations, community development committee chairmen, youth and women leaders, security agencies, and other critical interest groups. The interactive session provided an opportunity for INEC officials to brief participants on the ongoing CVR exercise and to galvanize collective action towards increased voter registration and civic participation within Port Harcourt City.

In her opening address, the INEC Electoral Officer for Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, Mrs. 𝙀𝙠𝙚 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙊𝙗𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙟𝙪, formally welcomed stakeholders and underscored the importance of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise as a nationwide civic responsibility. She disclosed that Port Harcourt City LGA, which falls under the Rivers East Senatorial District, comprises 20 wards, 961 polling units, three State Constituencies, and two federal Constituencies, with a total of 502,370 registered voters as of the 2023 General Elections.

Mrs. Obianuju further revealed that during the first quarter of the CVR exercise, 3,569 new voters were registered in the Local Government Area, noting that the final validated figures would be released after due processing by the Commission. She announced that the second phase of the CVR had been decentralized to the ward level on a rotational basis and urged stakeholders to actively mobilize residents to take advantage of the exercise, assuring participants that all concerns raised during the engagement would be addressed by INEC.

In his briefing, the Resident Electoral commisioner (REC), Prof. Gabriel O. Yomere emphasized that the stakeholders’ meeting formed part of INEC’s strategic preparations to localize and intensify public sensitization for the CVR exercise. He reiterated that Continuous Voter Registration remains the foundation of credible elections and stressed the Commission’s commitment to ensuring a peaceful, inclusive, and transparent registration process across Rivers State.

The REC explained that the first phase of the CVR, which ran from August 8 to December 15, 2025, recorded logistical challenges, particularly the limited availability of registration machines, especially in rural and riverine communities. He disclosed that the second phase of the CVR, which commenced on January 15, 2026, and will run until April 17, 2026, had adopted a ward-to-ward rotational deployment of registration machines to significantly reduce travel distance, waiting time, and access barriers for residents.

Prof. Yomere further called for aggressive grassroots sensitization, urging traditional rulers, religious leaders, political parties, and civil society organizations to leverage their influence to mobilize citizens. He highlighted the importance of voter registration not only for democratic participation but also for national and state planning, expressing optimism that with sustained collaboration, Port Harcourt City LGA could surpass the one million registered voters benchmark by the end of the current CVR phase.

Delivering his goodwill message, the Mayor of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, Sir (Hon.) Allwell Ihunda, thanked the Resident Electoral Commissioner and his team for choosing Port Harcourt City for the stakeholders’ engagement and reaffirmed the Local Government’s commitment to the success of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise. He assured INEC of the Council’s readiness to provide a safe, secure, and enabling environment for registration officials deployed across the wards.

“𝑨𝒔 𝒂 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑽𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚, 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝑵𝑬𝑪 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅.

The Mayor expressed concern over the current voter registration figures, noting that despite an estimated population running into millions, the Local Government had slightly above 500,000 registered voters. He called on traditional rulers, community leaders, youth and women leaders to intensify mobilization efforts, stressing that increased voter registration would enhance the political relevance and developmental leverage of Port Harcourt City LGA.

“𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑾𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅

In conclusion, the Mayor urged residents to seize the opportunity presented by the ongoing CVR exercise to register, transfer, or update their voter information, emphasizing that active participation would empower the Local Government to compete favorably with others in the State and ensure stronger representation in governance and development planning.

Signed:

Boyle Gift Ike
Chief Press Secretary,
Port Harcourt City Local Government.