Rivers Rerun: Police Panel Recovers N111m Bribe Money

The police panel set up by the inspector general of police, Ibrahim Idris, has presented the report of its findings, with the sum of N111,300,000.00 alleged to be recovered from staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as bribes from the Rivers State government.

The Rivers State government, however,  described the allegation as false and politically motivated.Special assistant to the governor on electronic media, Simeon Nwakaudu, said in a statement in Port Harcourt that the allegation by the police was aimed at diverting attention from the real issues about the election.“The statement (by the police) is patently false, politically motivated and cooked by the police to justify the violence they visited in the people of Rivers state during the re-run,” he said.

He further clarified that Gov.Wike did not spend N360 million to rig the re-run election.

According to him, “For the avoidance of doubt, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike did not spend N360 million to rig the re-run legislative elections of December 10, 2016. The people of Rivers State overwhelmingly voted the PDP across the state because of the outstanding performance of Governor Wike since May 29, 2015.”

The chairman of the committee, DCP Damian Okoro, however, said the amount was recovered from 23 INEC staff, who confessed to collecting N15 million each, while the electoral officers, got N20 million, which amounted to N360 million from Rivers State government.

He also explained that the six police officers, who were indicted in the report have been dismissed from service after due process, while the indicted INEC staff involved will be prosecuted.

Okoro said “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.

“Regrettably, these politicians often fail to realise that as very important personalities in their own right, they are the embodiment of some values cherished by their supporters.

“By this investigation, we have discovered that failure of leadership and followership rather than law enforcement, was responsible for political upheaval in the state.”