The explosion destroyed the gate and doors of the secretariat, which was situated along Aba Road in the capital city of Rivers State, Port Harcourt. The building was completely destroyed by fire.
“About 3:20 am some gun-trotting young men with their explosives and all that, came here and dropped the first explosive, maybe because the one they dropped here did not detonate, they came back the second time to burn the structure – look at the security house is gone.
“Behind me, you will see that there was also an attempt, our people came and we were able to quench the fire,”
In an interview, Okocha gave Channels TV confirmation of the occurrence.
The beleaguered APC chairman accused Governor Siminalyi Fubara of being politically motivated for the incident, blaming him for having earlier declared war on the local government elections.
“Is the APC secretariat here any voting unit? There is no voting unit here. So, it was deliberate to see how they can annihilate us, it is deliberate to see how they can embarrass us, it is deliberate to see how they can decimate us,” he added.
As of the time of this report, the police had not yet responded to the event.
The scheduled LG elections in Rivers are held.
Meanwhile, the practice began in all 23 councils of the oil-rich state, notwithstanding the turmoil surrounding the local government elections.
Voting and accreditation opened early in a number of polling places in the Port Harcourt City area.
Recall that police authorities had declared they would not supply protection for the exercise, citing a ruling from the Federal High Court prohibiting them from taking part.
All the same, the poll will go off as planned, according to a late Friday statement from the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
“For the avoidance of doubt, we emphasise unequivocally that the 5th October 2024 Local Government Council Elections in Rivers State will be held as scheduled, and there is no going back,” RSIEC said in a statement by its Commissioner for Civil Education/Public Affairs Tobin Tamunotonye.
