A principal actor in the controversial Anambra
governorship election of November 16 has
reportedly made sterling revelations to his
interrogators in Abuja.
Mr Okeke Chukwujekwu, the electoral officer in
charge of Idemili North local government area of
Anambra State, currently in police detention over
his role in the electoral saga, was said to have told
his police investigators that he was “being used
and dumped”.
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, had,
in the heat of the controversies generated by the
flawed poll, admitted that the “electoral officer” in
Idemili North “messed up” and that he would be
handed over to the police for prosecution.
Chukwujekwu was moved to Abuja on Sunday, just
as INEC said it was conducting a probe into the
deliberate sabotage of the governorship election.
A top official involved in the election confided in
LEADERSHIP yesterday that the arrested INEC
official had made useful statements even as he was
apprehensive that top directors of INEC might be
“implicated”.
“The way this whole thing is going, it looks as if
many heads will roll in INEC because the young
man has made useful statements and if what he
said is anything to rely upon, it then means that
some big names in that commission might fall with
him.
“At first, he was trying to rationalise his action in
that local government area when he was verbally
quizzed before the intervention of the police; but,
after some time, especially at the point of his
detention, he started to cooperate but the
cooperation is loaded because he has mentioned
some top officials of INEC, especially directors and
a PDP chieftain, as those who ‘put him in trouble’.
Although the source declined to disclose the
identities of those involved, he said “preliminary
confessions” point to the fact that the bungled
election in most LGAs of the state was “packaged
by aggrieved politicians in connivance with top
INEC officials both in Abuja and Awka” adding: “It
was a well-funded package.”
“All fingers point to some aggrieved politicians and
it was a well-funded package that involved quite a
lot of people; that is why the man is saying he has
been used and dumped,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jega has said all enquiries regarding
arrests made in the bungled Anambra election
should be referred to the police.
Jega’s chief press secretary, Kayode Idowu, told
LEADERSHIP on the telephone that INEC would not
comment on the arrested official who allegedly
played a key role in the flawed poll.
“One, I cannot say anything on his matter because
the police has taken over a larger chunk of the
matter; only the police can say something on the
role of the man arrested and how far they have
gone with their investigation; so you have to
contact the police.
“Again, it will be out of place for me to reel out
what the commission intends to do. Mind you,
INEC is also carrying out its administrative
interrogation on his matter,” he said.
INEC does not need court order to cancel tainted
poll - APC
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused
INEC of being economical with the truth by saying
only the courts can order the cancellation of last
Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra in
which about 1.3 million of the 1.7 million
registered voters were unable to exercise their
franchise.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its
interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, the party reminded INEC that it did not
wait for a court order to cancel the National
Assembly elections in 2011 when it was obvious
that many voters across the country could not vote
due to the late arrival or non-delivery of voting
materials.
‘’In announcing the cancellation of the National
Assembly election in 2011, INEC Chairman Attahiru
Jega said, among others, that it was to ‘maintain
the integrity of the elections and retain effective
overall control of the process’,’’ it said.
APC said the situation in Anambra last Saturday
was even more serious because, in addition to the
fact that voting materials were either late or not
delivered at all, most voters were disenfranchised
by an INEC official who apparently tampered with
the 2011 voters’ register for the state.
‘’Therefore, there are more compelling reasons
now to cancel the Anambra governorship election
than what led to the cancellation and rescheduling
of the National Assembly election in 2011, unless
of course INEC is still acting out the script handed
to it for the ill-fated election,’’ the party said.
Apologise to Nigerians, HURIWA, TCN tell Jega
In a related development, the Human Rights Writers
Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and the
Transparency Center Network (TCN) have asked
INEC chairman Prof Attahiru Jega to apologise to
Nigerians for the apparent failure and
administrative flaws that marred the November 16,
2013, governorship poll in Anambra State.
The groups also asked the hierarchy of the
electoral body to name, shame and prosecute all
the electoral officials that in one way or the other
colluded with reactionary political forces to
undermine the transparent conduct of the bungled
election which was declared inconclusive.
According to the groups, the bulk of blame and
responsibility lies with INEC which is
constitutionally empowered to conduct free, fair
and transparent elections nationally.
The groups stated this in a joint statement signed
by the national coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade
Emmanuel Onwubiko, who is also the deputy chief
of mission for Transparency Center Network (TCN),
an officially accredited election observer to the
Anambra election, as well as the national director
of media affairs of HURIWA, Miss Zainab Yusuf.
They noted that the failure of INEC in Anambra is
an unfortunate foretaste of what may happen in
2015 unless and except comprehensive reforms
are executed in INEC by the National Assembly to
make it transparent, accountable, effective and
efficient.
