Rivers Rerun: Gov. Wike denies bribing INEC officials, says Police shameful. Read more

Nigeria - The Rivers state government has denied that Governor Nyesom Wike allegedly spent N100 million to bribe officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the December 10 re-run election.

According to Sahara Reporters, the investigative committee of the Nigeria police on Tuesday, February 7, said the recovered money was given to the INEC officials as bribe by the Rivers state government.

In reaction to the report, Dr Austin Tam-George, the commissioner for information and communication, in a statement described allegations of the police as shameful, defamatory and reckless in the extreme.

Full statement after the jump>>>

The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the melodramatic images of heaps of cash, circulated in the media by the so-called police panel of inquiry into the re-run elections in Rivers State, on the 10th of December 2016.

According to the Police, the heaps of money were “evidence” of bribe allegedly given to officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, during the rerun polls.

We consider the allegations of the Police as shameful, defamatory and reckless in the extreme. Never in the annals of infamy have we seen a vital State security institution descend to the lowest depths of blackmail and criminality, as the Nigeria Police Force has done in this case.

A month ago, we alerted the world to the dark, Orwellian plot by the Nigeria Police to implicate governor Wike in a phoney bribe scandal. Now, the Police appears to be acting with shocking predictability, by making wild and completely groundless allegations against Wike.

The Rivers State Government challenges the Nigeria Police to show proof that Governor Wike financially induced any official of INEC. Does the Police have Bank records of the purported transactions between Governor Wike and the Electoral Officers? We challenge the Nigeria Police to move quickly to prosecute and imprison the so-called Electoral Officers on the basis of this dubious investigation.

We strongly believe that the police panel is part of a bitter, politically-driven smear campaign launched by the Federal Government against Governor Nyesom Wike, and the people of Rivers State.

We also believe that the Police is desperately seeking to divert attention from the disgraceful and criminal roles played by its officials, in the snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes during the December polls.

Rivers state will not succumb to the juvenile antics of the All Progressives Congress and its security surrogates.

The chairman of the Police panel, DCP Damian Okoro allegedly disclosed that: "The sum total of N111.3 million was recovered from 23 electoral officials out of N360m."

Okoro said that some officials got N15 million each while three senior electoral officers got N20 million each.

Meanwhile, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday, January 30, refused an application by the Rivers state governor to stop the probe of election violence in the state.

The governor had earlier prayed the court to grant an ex-parte motion for an interim injunction on a proposed probe by the Nigerian police.

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