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Guber Poll: I Didn’t Collect Bribe To Change Results -Effanga
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State, Mr Obo Effanga has denied allegations of monetary inducement of any staff of the commission to change the March 9, 2019 Governorship and state House of Assembly election results in order to favour a political party in the state.
Effanga stated this, during an interactive parley with journalists at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday.
“My duty is not who wins the election, my duty is how the election is conducted, and if there is any specific accusation as to what we did as an electoral body that shows we didn’t go through the due process set out for the election, then, we have to take it up from there.
“I don’t have any relation here in Rivers State, and I am not from Rivers State, and I don’t have any relationship with any political party. Was I paid or how much was I paid? No. I was not paid. What could I have done differently? Maybe, I really need to reflect to know what I could have done differently,” he added.
The INEC boss explained that he did not regret any of his decisions taken to ensure transparent, credible, free and fair elections in the state, adding that any candidate or party not satisfied with the outcome of the election should seek redress at the election petition tribunal established mainly for that purpose.
He further absolved the commission or any of its staff of any wrongdoing in the just-concluded elections in the state, saying: “neither I nor the commission had compromised the electoral process”.
The REC maintained that, “if there is any specific accusation as to what we did as an electoral body that shows we didn’t follow due process should be channelled to the tribunal, so as to challenge the outcome of the 2019 General Election in the state”.
According to him, “Did I compromise the electoral process? No. I did not. So, what they did at their parties that made things difficult for them and the process less competitive at the point of the election is their business”.
He explained that it was not true that the commission’s Fact-Finding Committee met with candidates of the political parties during its investigation on what led to the suspension of the elections in the state.
“They came and met with staff, electoral officers and collation officers, and they then met with members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee in Election Security.
“There were some reports in the newspapers that I was disappointed about, and I had to forward it to members of the committee asking if that actually happened, because I was not there. So, I am stating it here and again, that the committee didn’t meet any of the candidates”, Effanga insisted.
He revealed that between May and June, INEC would engage in a number of activities, including the resumption of the Continued Voter Registration and PVC collection as well as reviewing the process of the 2019 General Election, and strategise on ways to better prepare for the 2023 General Election.
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
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