The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) has clarified that it will not recognise the list of candidates submitted by the Emeka Beke-led faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the upcoming local government elections on August 30.

RSIEC Commissioner for Administration and Legal Services, Professor Chidi Haliday, explained that the commission only received the list for record purposes, not for official recognition. He stressed that electoral bodies are not responsible for resolving internal party disputes.

According to Professor Haliday, the commission monitored the primaries conducted by the Tony Okocha-led APC faction and received their list of successful candidates within the stipulated deadlines. However, the Beke faction failed to submit its candidates on time and conducted primaries outside the commission’s monitoring.

“APC had their primaries, picked up their expression of interest, and with what they brought to us, we conducted the primaries. Anything we receive after that is taken for record purposes because it is not within the timeline we have provided,” Haliday said.

He also emphasised that no court has the authority to impose executives on political parties and that RSIEC will continue to uphold its timelines and electoral processes.