We wrote election results for SIEC, Amaechi’s Chief of Staff confesses

FIJ

Anthony Okocha, the caretaker chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has openly confessed to participating in electoral malpractice while serving as the chief of staff under the Rotimi Amaechi administration.

Okocha made this revelation while addressing journalists on local government autonomy and elections in Port Harcourt on Wednesday. The APC chieftain expressed scepticism about the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy achieving its desired results if elections remained under the control of state electoral commissions.

He cited past instances of election malpractice through his office as chief of staff under Amaechi, a former Rivers State Governor.

“The issue of election into office should no longer be the responsibility of the State Independent Electoral Commission because the system is already skewed. The governor will use it as another means of getting back what they feel they have lost. Because they formed the SIEC and give them handouts,” he said.

“I was Chief of Staff, I gave handouts. I gave. Elections could be written inside the Chief of Staff’s office. It was done so in my time. We did so. We would write the result and hand it over to the commission. Their business is to go and announce. And, of course, after announcing the results, if you feel aggrieved, you’ll present before the tribunal. The tribunal is set up by the state government. They also have their own handouts.”

Okocha also commented on the recent appointments of caretaker chairpersons by Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers State Governor. He criticised the current management of local government affairs and argued that local governments would only be truly independent if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the elections instead of the state commissions.

“It’s only in Rivers State that persons flaunt themselves and call themselves caretaker whatever. I was told today that one of them who was appointed chairman was boasting that the revenue of the council from the federal allocation would still come to him, that he would manage it,” he further said.

FIJ recently reported that three of the state’s 23 newly appointed caretaker chairpersons had appointed about 500 aides.

FIJ understands that Okocha is aligned with the Nyesom Wike faction in the Rivers State political crisis. Okocha was at the forefront of the clamour for Fubara’s impeachment before it fell through.

Recently, Okocha scored Fubara zero in his first year in office, saying that he was operating from an illegitimate budget. Okocha’s comments are not unconnected to the Supreme Court rulings in favour of local government autonomy on July 11.

THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN FIJ