Tony Okocha, the former Chief of Staff to ex-Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, has once again emphasized that elections in the state were rigged during his time in the administration. In a recent interview on Channels Television, Okocha confirmed his previous statement made in July where he admitted that the party rigged elections in the state. He did not deny this claim and even went as far as to suggest that he should be compensated as a whistleblower....For More READ THE FULL STORY▶▶
“Yes, I didn’t hide it that I rig elections. I should be paid as a whistleblower. If you were an armed robber yesterday and you come to confess that you stole something somewhere, someday, are you saying the law will take a proactive effect? The answer is no,” he said in the video that took the interviewer aback.
Recall that in July Okocha, openly admitted to election fraud.
In an interview with the media on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, Okocha revealed that he personally wrote the local government area election results during his time as Chief of Staff and handed them over to the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC).
The All Progressives Congress (APC) caretaker chairman in Rivers State disclosed that he provided handouts to the SIEC, local government election tribunal, and the appeal court, instructing them on what to do.
Okocha also discussed the Supreme Court verdict granting local government full financial autonomy and called for the scrapping of the State Independent Electoral Commission by the National Assembly.
He stated, “It is only in Rivers State that persons flaunt themselves and call themselves caretakers, whatever.
I was told that one of them who was appointed caretaker chairman was boasting that the revenue of the council from the federal allocation would still come to him, that he would manage.
There is still a lot to do. The issue of elections should no longer be the responsibility of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) because the system is already skewed.
The governors will still use it as another means of getting back what they think they have lost.
They formed the SIEC in Rivers State and gave them handout. I was the Chief of Staff, I gave handouts.
Elections could be written inside the Chief of Staff’s office. It was done in my time. We did so. We write the results and hand them over to the commission, and their own business is to go and announce.
After announcing the results, if you feel aggrieved, it will be presented before the tribunal. The tribunal is set up by the state government, and they also have their own handout.
The appeal to whatever decision the tribunal takes is at the state high court. They also have their handout. What else will you do? You will accept fate, and it is the reason why in all the states where they have conducted elections, all the positions were won by the governor’s own party.
Does that suggest democracy? It doesn’t. We are therefore pleading with the national assembly to immediately, either by resolution or howsoever, remove the election of local government leadership from the hand of the State Independent Electoral Commission.
Let INEC, a body saddled with conduct of elections, be responsible for all elections in Nigeria.”
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