The Joint Investigation Panel, which probed the last rerun elections in Rivers State, has announced the recovery of about 111 million naira cash from 23 officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The panel said the money was part of the 350 million naira bribe the officials collected from the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike to manipulate the polls in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The panel, which presented its findings at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, on Tuesday, also indicted six dismissed police operatives for misconduct and misuse of arms during the polls, contrary to the provisions of Force Order 237.
The officers – ex-Inspector Eyong Victor, ex-Sgts. Peter Ekpo, Oguni Goodluck, Orji Nwoke, Okpe Ezekiel and Tanko Akor – had been dismissed by the Force.
The errant operatives were said to have stormed the Port Harcourt City Council Secretariat and prevented the movement of election results of Emouha polling unit to the appropriate collation centre designated by INEC in disobedience to senior officers present.
The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, inaugurated the panel on December 22, 2016, following the violence that rocked the poll in which Mohammed Alkali, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, and his driver were beheaded and their heads thrown into a river.
The panel, which comprised 12 officers of the Nigeria Police Force and three from the Department of State Services, was mandated to investigate the various infractions, incidents, and violence that marred the rerun elections in Rivers State and any relevant matter.
Speaking during the presentation, the panel chairman, DCP Damian Okoro, said, “The sum of N111,300,000 was recovered from 23 INEC officials.
Okoro said, “Three INEC officials said they met with Wike and that the Rivers State government gave them money. Out of N350m, N15m was given to each of the electoral officers and N5m was added by the government of Rivers to the EOs who were in charge.
“Consequently, the sum of N111,300,000 was recovered by the panel from the 23 electoral officers.”
Okoro said the committee established cases of misconduct against some electoral officers and law enforcement agents, who, according to him, allowed themselves to be compromised in their line of duties.
He stated that violent crimes, such as armed robbery, kidnapping and politically-motivated killings by militants and cult groups enjoyed the funding and protection of desperate politicians in the state.
He continued: “These lawless elements target not only the political opponents of their sponsors but also law enforcement agents, especially the police, mostly within the Ogba/Ndoni/Egbema Local Government Area which is the axis of evil of cultism.
“The violence that occurred in Rivers State before, during and after the rerun elections was a reflection of lawlessness and leadership failure of narrow -minded politicians and their gullible supporters.
“Oftentimes, politicians make inflammatory statements that incite their supporters to avoidable violence that leads to the destruction of lives and properties and eruption of violence.”
He complained that Governor Wike refused to cooperate with the panel.
The IG said the panel findings and recommendations report would be forwarded to the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, for implementation, adding that the indicted INEC officials would be prosecuted.
“I see no reason why a rerun election will lead to the beheading of our officers, who were there to do their lawful duties. I believe that the report will go a long way to put an end to individuals seeing election as a do-or-die affair.
“We will take appropriate actions in conjunction with the law officer of the federation, the Attorney General of the Federation, in order to put an end to most of the abuse and electoral violence in this country.”
He said the recovered money would be returned to government treasury.
“From the confession of those the money was recovered from, they said the money was from the state government. I can assure you that from here, the money will go into government treasury because this is a recovery on the basis of an investigation conducted.
In its reaction, the Rivers State Government however described the police finding as shameful, defamatory and reckless.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George, challenged the police to prove that Governor Nyesom Wike bribed the officials.
Tam-George, in a statement on Tuesday, also challenged the Nigeria Police Force to prosecute and imprison the electoral officers indicted by the panel without delay, even as he described the police investigation as dubious.
“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 Wike and the people of Rivers State,” he said.
