Wike, Police Rattle Over Alleged N111.3m Bribe

Recall yesterday that the Nigerian police claimed to have recovered N111.3 million from 23 Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials who conducted the December 10, 2016 re-run election in Rivers State. The cash is said to be just a part from the N360 million bribe paid by Governor Nyesom Wike .

According to the police, some undisclosed officials have been accused for their contribution in the violence that ensued during the

election.

Remember that six policemen were also indicted and have been dismissed due to the role played during the election. They are to face prosecution.

This was part of the report submitted to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris yesterday by the Joint Investigation Panel constituted by the (IGP) on December 22, 2016, to investigate the violence that led to the slaughtering of two policemen during the election.

However, the River State Governor, Nyesom Wike has rejected the report and describe it as “malicious, defamatory and reckless”. He denied all the allegation set up against him by the panel, which he accused of being biased.

Nine policemen and three Department of State Services (DSS) personnel constituted the 12-man panel that was assigned to probe the various transgressions, incidents, and violence that soiled the rerun.

The panel ascribed the violence to lawlessness and leadership failure.

Damian Okoro who was the chairman of the panel, Damian, a current Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), claimed the N111.3 million was recovered from 23 INEC officers. He said three senior electoral officers collected N20 million each of the N360 million supposedly given to them by Wike while the remaining officers received N15 million each.

According to the committee founding, Okoro said “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.”

“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 militant and culture groups that enjoy the funding and protection of desperate politicians.

“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 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 into avoidable violence that results in the destruction of lives and properties and eruption of elections.

“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.

“Apart from their utterances, politicians, in their desperation for political power also arm thugs and unleash terror on their opponents. When motivated by their sponsors these criminal elements can do anything to further the political aspirations of their principals, including extra- judicial killings and rigging of elections with impunity.

Okoro went further: “We discovered that failure of leadership and followership rather than law enforcement was responsible for political upheaval in the state.”

A source close to the investigation who pleaded for facelessness, said: “After forensic analysis was 

conducted, it was discovered that the voice was truly that of the governor. Also, those indicted were interviewed and they confessed on video tape that the governor gave them money. They explained how they were invited and escorted back to their hotel rooms with money in different bags.

“We also discovered that the governor withdrew N2billion from the government coffers for the purpose of rigging the rerun. Imagine what the money would have been used for. The money would have built many schools, hospitals and a lot of things.”

The IG claimed that the panel wrote to Governor Wike to cooperate but he declined and that the report and its recommendations would be sent to the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, for further steps to be taken.

Mr Idris said: “The Panel tackled what has been going on in this country where politicians have turned election into a do-or-die affair and we have been failing in this country because we have allowed things to derail to this level.

“I see no reason why a rerun 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 abuses and electoral violence in this country.

”People that were arrested are going to be prosecuted because they are public officers. We are going to forward the report and our recommendation to the Attorney General of the Federation.”

Speaking about the money recovered, Idris said: “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 these are recoveries on the basis of an investigation conducted.

“Six police officers were indicted and they have already been dismissed and I can assure you that they would also be charged to court.”