An advocacy group, Rivers Peace Initiative (RPI), has charged the governorship candidates in the 2027 elections to look beyond political parties and campaign promises and focus on the kind of Rivers State citizens want to live in.
RPI Convener, Obinna Ebogidi, gave the charge on Friday in Port Harcourt, while speaking during the Rivers 2027 governorship dialogue with the theme: “Rivers 2027: The People’s Agenda.”
The event was attended by governorship candidates of political parties, leaders of political parties, the traditional institutions, civil society organisations and the media.
Ebogidi said the dialogue was built around a simple but fundamental question: “Beyond who governs Rivers State, what kind of Rivers State do we want to live in?”
“It is a question that goes beyond political parties, beyond campaign promises, and beyond the excitement of an election season. It concerns the lives we live today, the opportunities available to our people, the security of our communities, and the future we are preparing for the generations coming after us,” he said.
He noted that while Rivers is richly endowed with human talent, natural resources and resilient people, the true measure of its wealth is not what lies beneath its soil or waterways, but what people see, feel and experience daily.
“It is the quality of our schools and hospitals. It is the opportunities available to our young people. It is whether our communities are safe, our public resources responsibly managed, our institutions accountable, and our citizens treated with dignity. The Rivers we want must be measured not only by the wealth it generates, but by the quality of life it gives its people,” Ebogidi stated.
He said the Rivers We Want TownHall Series and Governorship Dialogue was convened by the Rivers Peace Initiative in partnership with Super 93.3 FM, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, University of Port Harcourt, and the Trade Union Congress, Rivers State, among other stakeholders.
According to him, the gathering is not to choose a candidate for the people, but to ensure the people have a meaningful place in the choices before them.
“That is why we have worked towards a Citizens’ Charter of Demands: a document shaped by the concerns, aspirations and development priorities of Rivers people. It is not a perfect document, nor should it be treated as the end of the conversation. It is a starting point — a common reference against which promises can be discussed, commitments made, and, ultimately, performance assessed,” he said.
Ebogidi urged governorship candidates to engage with what the people consider important with openness, sincerity and spirit of service.
“Today offers an opportunity not merely to tell us what you intend to do, but to engage with what the people consider important,” he said.
He thanked political parties, labour leaders, traditional institutions and media partners, stressing that the initiative belongs to no single individual and its value lies in placing the common good above narrow interests.
He reminded Rivers people that democracy does not begin and end at the ballot box, adding that peace is not just absence of violence but presence of justice, inclusion, mutual respect and accountable institutions.
“Political victories are temporary, but the Rivers we all have to live in is permanent. The campaign season will pass. Candidates will make their appeals, citizens will make their choices, and a government will eventually emerge. But our communities will remain.
“Let today, therefore, be more than another event we attended. Let it be a step towards a political culture in which the people are heard before decisions are made, commitments are taken seriously, and governance is judged by the difference it makes in people’s lives,” Ebogidi declared.
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