Tag Archives: REC

RECs, Officials Under Bribery Probe Won’t Supervise Elections –INEC

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has said none of its officials, who are undergoing investigations for alleged bribery, will be assigned any electoral duty.

It said the officials, whose names were on the list sent to it by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, would be barred from electoral duty until they cleared themselves of the bribery allegations against them.

Though none of those under investigation had been suspended by INEC or indicted by the EFCC, the electoral umpire stated on Monday that it would be morally wrong to continue to assign electoral duties to the suspects.

It was gathered that the EFCC sent a letter to INEC and demanded the release of over 100 officers for interrogation for alleged bribery during the 2015 general elections.

The Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had earlier confirmed the number of the suspects, saying at the end of the investigations, those found guilty would be fired by the commission.

Some states’ Resident Electoral Commissioners were allegedly bribed before, during and after the 2015 polls.

Many electoral officers and others were also said to have been involved in the alleged bribery scandal.

The bribe cash was said to have been disbursed by a bank from the N23bn deposited in the bank by the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja on Monday, said none of those under investigation would be used in the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State.

He added that until the concerned officers were cleared by the EFCC, they would not be used for any electoral duty.

Oyekanmi stated, “We have made it clear to them that none of those whose names appeared on the list sent by the EFCC would be involved in any electoral duty.

“Using them will send a wrong signal to the people about our integrity and all that.

“Though these people have yet to be indicted and they remain innocent until proved guilty, we have to safeguard the integrity of the commission as well.

“That is why we have placed embargo on them concerning electoral duties. There are other jobs they could do at the commission, but not electoral duty.”

He said the commission was poised to conduct a free, fair and credible election in Ondo State.

A former REC in Rivers State, Mrs. Gesila Khan, and other top INEC officials in the South-South geopolitical zone were alleged to have received N675.1m from the poll bribe cash.

Reliable sources at the EFCC had alleged that Khan, who was later redeployed as the REC in Cross River State, allegedly received N185.8m ahead of the March 28 and April 11, 2015 elections.

The commission also arrested one Oluchi Obi Brown, who, as the INEC administrative secretary in Delta State, allegedly received over N111m.

Further investigations by detectives revealed that Brown had about $75,000 in an account in the United States.

The anti-graft agency also arrested one Edem Effanga, who is a retired INEC official. Effanga was arrested alongside his alleged accomplice, Immaculata Asuquo, who was the Head, Voter Education of INEC in Akwa Ibom State.

Effanga was alleged to have received over N240m, which he shared among INEC ad hoc workers during the elections.

“I Am Still The INEC REC Of Rivers State” – Mrs. Gesila Khan

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THE Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Gesila Khan, has said she is still in charge as the state REC and has not been transferred.
Khan was reacting to claims in some quarters that she had been transferred by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The state REC, who was alleged to have been arrested and detained by operatives of the Department of State Services spoke with journalists on Monday at the state INEC office, Port Harcourt during the ongoing inspection and certification of materials used for the 2015 polls.
Khan maintained that she would not have been part of the ongoing exercise at the state INEC office if she had been transferred as speculated.
“I am here and I am still here. I have not been transferred. If I have been transferred, I should not be sitting here; I should be picking my things. Even if I am transferred, there is nothing wrong with that because it is government work and anytime you are called to move, you move. But for now, I have not been called to move,” she stressed.
On whether she has any regret as a result of her experience so far in Rivers State, the REC said, “I have no regret whatsoever. I am an Human Resources practitioner,  so, anything you see in life, you move along with it. You cannot predict man. They are free to think and say what they want.”
She, however, pointed out that the photocopying of election materials and certification of documents were going on without any hitch.

Explaining that INEC headquarters crafted three administrative secretaries to assist in the exercise, Khan noted that this was necessary in order not to delay the submission of required materials to the election tribunal.
“During the presidential election, three national commissioners came; during the governorship election, three national commissioners came and now again, we have three administrative secretaries. That is just to make the job fast and you know the tribunals are time-bound and the work (sorting our election materials) is voluminous.
“We have been working since. Today, it is either this document or another. Some they want in long hand while some they want it in short hand. So, the law says when they request, you give them and since the time is very short, we have to,” she said.
Meanwhile, the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, has disagreed with the State Electoral Commissioner that she was detained by the DSS for two weeks.
The state APC said the DSS invited Khan for questioning, alleging that her actions and inactions constituted a security threat to the state and the country at large.
Describing Khan as a victim of her own devices, the state APC in a statement signed by its Secretary, Media and Publicity Committee, Mr. Godstime Orlukwu, said her alleged earlier refusal to release materials used during the last election was capable of affecting the peace of the state.

DSS Probe Of Rivers REC In Order – APC

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has thrown its weight behind the current probe of the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mrs. Gesila Khan, by the Department of State Security (DSS).

The party in a statement by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, berated the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for seeking to stop the DSS from carrying out its constitutional duties because of its well-known dalliance with Mrs. Khan.

“By petitioning the DSS over the probe of Mrs. Gesila Khan, the PDP Reps have publicly exposed the unholy alliance between their party and REC Khan, of which we have been crying even before the March 28 and April 11 elections, in which she brazenly took sides with PDP and worked overzealously to return the party’s candidates for all the positions so as to justify the huge sums of money she collected from the then ruling party and please her relation, the then president Goodluck Jonathan,” Rivers APC said.

The party in the statement issued on Sunday in Port Harcourt pointed out that if for nothing REC Khan should explain the source of the humongous sum of N700m reportedly found in her account which suspect must be funds the Jonathan Presidency and Candidate Nyesom Wike paid out to the woman to buy the mandate of Rivers people in the last general elections. Sadly, they did not tutor her well enough on how to deal with such huge amount of money.

The party further stated that Under the new dispensation, the law is not a respecter of individuals, stressing that Mrs. Khan and some of her key staff invited for questioning by the DSS are not above the law. “If they are sure of the results of the elections in Rivers State, all they need to do is to report to the DSS and prove their innocence,” Rivers APC said. It lambasted the Rivers Federal Lawmakers, saying: “The petitioners here are beneficiaries of the alleged crime perpetrated by REC Khan and her INEC collaborators, so they have no moral justification to protest. Since when did the Reps become defenders of INEC officials?”

According to Rivers APC, “If Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), former National Security Adviser, former ADC to one-time Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), a scion of the royal caliphate in Sokoto, can be investigated by the DSS, then why the cry over the move to investigate Mrs. Khan and her collaborators? Are they bigger than Gordon Obuah, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Chief Security Officer, who is also being investigated by the DSS despite being a senior DSS official and still in service?”

The party advised PDP to come to terms with the fact that it is a new dawn in Nigeria and that everyone should be prepared at all times to defend his or her stewardship. “Power has CHANGED hands for good and no one is a sacred cow. Even President Buhari has made it clear that NO ONE SHALL ESCAPE JUSTICE,” Rivers APC stated.

Signed

Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze,

SSA on Media and Public Affairs to the State Chairman, APC Rivers State

Investigate N600m Bribe Allegation Offered To REC In Rivers, APC Asks Jega

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The All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has appealed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to investigate the Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in the State, Mrs. Gesila Khan. The APC is making the appeal over allegations that Khan received a N600 million bribe from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state.

Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, Davies Ibiamu Ikeanya at a media briefing argued that the investigation would help INEC determine the level of rot Khan had superintended as INEC boss in Rivers State.

The party argued that the allegation alone was sufficient to disqualify the REC, Gesila Khan from holding such a sensitive public office, or, in fact, any other office of trust.

Read More: dailypost

Akwa Ibom APC Writes Jega Again, Calls For Removal Of REC, Others

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The All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State has again petitioned the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, detailing how top officials of the commission aided massive rigging of the March 28 polls.

The party had on April 6, wrote to Mr, Jega, accusing Governor Godswill Akpabio, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Austin Okogie, the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Paul Ekpo and many others of rigging the presidential and National Assembly polls.

In that letter, the party had drawn attention to what it called “mass and highly choreographed irregularities”, including how compromised INEC officials handed over sensitive materials to Mr. Akpabio and his aides.

However, in its new letter on Wednesday, Mr. Attai said it has troubling revelations on how a three-pronged rigging plot involving INEC officials, top officials of the state and the Nigeria Police, was perpetrated.

Barely one week after it purportedly uncovered how the PDP allegedly rigged the election, the APC chieftain said recent findings indicate the web of the plot went deeper than what the party earlier presented.

“Though the rigging plot at INEC was anchored by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Austin Okogie, his principle enablers were the Director of Operations, who also doubles as the Store Keeper, the Head of Computer Unit and the Head of Administration,” Mr. Attai wrote.

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Anxiety as INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega meets RECs on Wednesday

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There were concerns in Abuja on Monday that some Resident Electoral Commissioners might pass a vote of no confidence in the Independent Electoral Commission Chairman, Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday.
Jega is expected meet with the RECs on the said date to assess the collection of Permanent Voter Cards by registered voters and the situation in communities recaptured from Boko Haram.
It was gathered that the   no confidence vote might be a prelude to Jega’s removal by the Federal Government.
A top member of the commission, who confided in our correspondent, said the RECs that are backing the plot to remove Jega are known government apologists.
“The meeting on Wednesday is most likely to be stormy. I say this because some resident commissioners are plotting to move against our chairman. They may pass a no confidence vote in him. But the chairman enjoys strong backing in the commission. Any plan to pass a vote of no

confidence in him will not work,” he said.

The PUNCH learnt on Monday that   Jega would demand from the resident commissioners   feedback on the rate of PVC collection in their states.
Our source   said INEC had noted the success recorded by the military in the North-East, particularly some communities recaptured from Boko Haram.
He said that some internally displaced persons in Borno and Adamawa states had started returning to their communities.
The source said that before the communities were recaptured, INEC had made provision for the IDPs to vote in their camps.
He explained that with some of them returning to their communities, the commission would reconsider its initial plan.
It was learnt that RECs from Adamawa and Borno states, would brief the meeting on the situation in the recaptured communities.
The source said, “Besides the reports we will get from security agencies, RECs from those areas will brief us on Wednesday on the situation in the communities. We will also get update on the collection of PVCs.”
Following the rescheduling of the   general elections, INEC on February 8 extended the deadline for collection of PVCs to March 8.
When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman,   Kayode Idowu, said that Nigerians should be encouraged to collect their PVCs.
Idowu, who     declined to comment on the agenda of the Wednesday meeting, said that the number of those who had collected their PVCs had increased to 55,079,365.
“As of last weekend, the figure had risen to 55, 079,365. That is 80.02 per cent,” he explained.
The commission had on Friday said the total number of PVCs collected had risen to 54,327,747 (78.93 per cent)
When asked whether the meeting would discuss extension of the deadline for the PVCs collection, Idowu said registered voters should be encouraged to collect the PVCs.
On what INEC would do for people returning to recaptured communities, he said, “It is too early to say. The commission has planned to conduct voting for the IDPs in safer areas within their states. But if they are no longer displaced as we get closer to the election date, the commission will have to address that.”
Asked to comment on fears that the meeting might be used by pro-government RECs   to pass a vote of no confidence in his boss, Idowu replied,   “That is one conversation I will not get into please.”
Source: The Punch