Report, a blackmail – RVSG
By Chizoba Ogbeche
Abuja
The Joint Investigative Panel on Electoral and Other Offences in Relation to the December 10, 2016, National and State Assembly Re-run Election in Rivers state, set up by the Police, yesterday submitted that the Rivers state government allegedly bribed 23 Electoral Officers (EOs) with N360 million.
Presenting report of the panel to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, Chairman of the panel, DCP Damian Nkem Okoro, said the state government was found to have allegedly given N15 million each to 20 electoral officers while three senior EOs were given N20 million each, noting that N111, 300,000 was recovered from the INEC electoral officers.
According to him, “By this investigation, the panel has diligently unravelled what went wrong with the re-run elections in Rivers state, the details of which are contained in the report.
“We discovered that failure of leadership and followership, rather than law enforcement was responsible for political upheaval in the state. There were, however, some cases of misconduct on the part of some electoral officers and law enforcement agents who unfortunately allowed themselves to be compromised in their line of duties and deserve to be disciplined appropriately.”
He said: “The task given to the panel was quite challenging because of the tense political and security situation in the state, especially the prevalence of violent-crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping and politically motivated killings by militants and cult groups that enjoy
the funding and protection of desperate politicians.
“These elements target not only the political-opponents of their sponsors, but also law enforcement agents, especially the police, mostly within the Ogba/Ndoni/Egbema LGA, which is axis of evils of cultism.
“The violence that occurred in Rivers state before, during and after the re-run elections was a reflection of lawlessness and leadership failure of narrow-minded politicians and their gullible supporters.”
Responding, IGP Idris said, “I am delighted this morning and I want to say that the panel has made history. You have made us proud. Your investigation captures what has been wrong with this country where politicians have turned elections into do- or- die (affair).
“We will be failing in this country if we allow things to derail to the state it has derailed. I see no reason why the re-run election would lead to the beheading of our officers who were there to do their lawful duties.
“They are not politicians and I believe this investigation is going to put an end to the perception of election as do-or-die (affair). I promise you we are going to take necessary action in conjunction with all relevant agencies.”
The police boss further assured that “we are going to send the report to the Attorney General so that all of us can put our heads together to put to an end to most of the abuses the electoral processes are subjected to in this country. I promise that appropriate action would be taken against those who are indicted to serve as a deterrent to others.”
Meanwhile, a little drama ensued at the end of the presentation as three persons the committee chairman claimed were the EOs, who negotiated on behalf of the others, were whisked away and were not allowed to answer questions from journalists.
The 15-man panel made up of 12 policemen and 3 officials of Department of State Services (DSS) were inaugurated by the IGP on December 22, 2016.
Rivers government reacts
But in a swift reaction, the Rivers state government described the report as “an attempt to blackmail the administration”, saying it would not stand.
The Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr Austin Tam-George, who made the state government’s position known in a statement yesterday, described the “allegations of the police as shameful, defamatory and reckless in the extreme.”
He said: “Never in the annals of infamy have we seen a vital state security institution descend to the lowest depths of blackmail and criminality, as the Nigeria Police Force has done in this case.
“A month ago, we alerted the world to the dark Orwellian plot by the Nigeria Police to implicate Governor Wike in a phoney bribe scandal. Now, the police appear to be acting with shocking predictability, by making wild and completely groundless allegations against Wike.
“The Rivers state government challenges the Nigeria Police to show proof that Governor Wike financially induced any official of INEC. Do the Police have bank records of the purported transactions between Governor Wike and the Electoral Officers?”
Continuing, he said: “We challenge the Nigeria Police to move quickly to prosecute and imprison the so-called Electoral Officers on the basis of this dubious investigation. We strongly believe that the police panel is part of a bitter, politically-driven smear campaign launched by the federal government against Governor Nyesom Wike, and the people of Rivers state.”
“We also believe that the police are desperately seeking to divert attention from the disgraceful and criminal roles played by its officials, in the snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes during the December polls.
“Rivers state will not succumb to the juvenile antics of the All Progressives Congress and its security surrogates.”
