The Independent National Electoral Commission has commenced the distribution of sensitive materials for Saturday’s Rivers South-East Senatorial District bye-election, with 858,573 registered voters expected to participate in the poll.
The election is being conducted to fill the vacancy created by the death of former Senator Barry Mpigi, who represented the district until his death at a London hospital in February.
Sensitive election materials, including ballot papers and result sheets, were on Thursday inspected at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s zonal headquarters in Port Harcourt by representatives of participating political parties before distribution to designated locations.
The inspection exercise, conducted in line with electoral transparency procedures, was witnessed by officials of the Action Alliance, All Progressives Congress, Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party.
Speaking during the exercise, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State, Johnson Sinikiem, said the materials had been made available for scrutiny by party agents to ensure confidence in the electoral process.
“We have come to inspect and distribute the ballot papers and the result sheets that we are going to use for the Saturday, June 20, 2026, senatorial bye-election in Rivers State.
“As you can see, the materials are intact and have not been tampered with. Party agents are free to inspect them, and once there are no objections, they will be distributed to the local governments and RAC centres,” he said.
Sinikiem disclosed that a total of 858,573 registered voters spread across 1,629 polling units would be eligible to vote in the election.
He explained that after the inspection, the materials would be moved to the affected local government areas and Registration Area Centres ahead of Saturday’s poll.
The bye-election will hold in the seven local government areas that make up the Rivers South-East Senatorial District, namely Khana, Gokana, Tai, Eleme, Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro and Oyigbo.
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