Politics
Ogbulafor: Key Witnesses To Testify, Nov 7
The continuation of the trial of former PDP National Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor over an alleged N170 million contract fraud at an Abuja High Court which was stalled last Tuesday following the absence of the judge, is expected to hold on November 7, this year.
Justice Ishaq Bello, who last presided over the matter on July 11, was said to have travelled to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage.
Bello was expected to hear testimony of a principal witness of the prosecution.
However, proceedings in the matter could not hold last Tuesday, as the judge was said to be out of town.
Mr Paul Bassi, a Senior Legal Officer with ICPC and prosecutor, told newsmen that the new date was given to counsel to Ogbulafor, Mr Joe Gadzama (SAN), by the court clerk.
It would be recalled that ICPC is prosecuting Ogbulafor, Jude Nwokolo, Henry Ikoh and Emeka Emmanuel on a 16-count charge of alleged involvement in a N170 million fraud.
The agency alleged that while serving as the Minister of State for Economic Affairs in 2001, Ogbulafor connived with the others to float three fictitious companies through which they perpetrated the fraud.
They were alleged to have used Henrichiko Nig. Ltd, DHL Consultants and Chekwas Industries to siphon N82.6 million, N11.5 million and N6.2 million, respectively in 2001.
The prosecution also alleged that Ogbulafor used his position as the Head of the National Economic Intelligence Committee, set up to verify debts owed local contractors, to pass some forged documents.
On May 30, six months after the case was adjourned indefinitely, the judge granted permission to ICPC to reopen its case on July 11 and July 12.
The decision followed an application filed by ICPC’ Counsel, Chief Adegboye Awomolo (SAN), asking for the case to be relisted on the court list.
The application for the relisting of the case was after a stay of proceedings in the case, pending the determination of a motion he filed at the Court of Appeal.
ICPC asked for the stay of proceedings because the commission was challenging Bello’s ruling granting Ogbulafor’s application for severance of trial, delivered on December 14, 2010.
Bello had severed the trial because Nwokolo, Ikoh and Emanuel had filed a case at the Court of Appeal, challenging the ruling of the court in which the judge said they had a case to answer in the matter.
Bello said that because the appeal filed by the three accused persons had yet to be heard, the trial had to be severed so that the others could stand trial after their appeal had been determined.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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