Rivers State is a state in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Its capital, Port Harcourt, is widely regarded as the commercial capital of the Nigerian oil sector. According to the 2006 census, Rivers state has a population strength of 5,198,716 people, making it the seventh populous state in the country and trailing behind Kano State, Lagos State, Katsina, Kaduna State, Bauchi State and Oyo State.
INEC registration
The south south region in Nigeria consists of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers State. In the 2019 election, Rivers State recorded 3.21 million registered voters which named Rivers State the state with the largest number of voters in the south south region. The south south is again the second region with the most registrants in the suspended continuous voters registration exercise with 2,458,095 registrants. A tally in which Rivers State added 473,924 newly registered voters as revealed by INEC.
Rivers State as a PDP state
The outgoing Governor of the state, Nyesom Wike is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as his deputy Governor, and all members of the state’s parliament.
Controversy
Since Gov Nyesom Wike lost to the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar at the party’s primaries, there have been reports of an ongoing internal crisis between the duo. In this time, the PDP Governor has received guests from opposition parties, including the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi and current governors of Nigeria’s ruling party, the All-Progressive Congress (APC).
Reports say that while Alhaji Abubakar has sent several party stakeholders to reconcile the duo, opposition party members have continued to meet with the governor.
State of play
In his over seven years as governor of the state, Nyesom Wike has won the hearts of the people of the state. And with his loyalty in question, the governor can deliver the seventh most populous state in the country to the presidential candidate he backs. This is a major election decider.