Olusegun Adeosun
The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Aminu Iliyasu has accused the governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike of an attempt to financially induce officers of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army during the Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly polls..
Colonel Iliyasu revealed this while addressing the press in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Tuesday.
The Army played an audio purported to be Governor Wike’s voice allegedly trying to compromise the officers, but the governor denied, describing it as baseless.
“Am I the Electoral Officer?: Wike asked rhetorically. “It is not correct. They say I am trying to compromise them. It does not make sense.”
. The governor added that there is nothing wrong with the call.
Meanwhile, the Army also claimed that some people who were paraded before the public at the briefing were arrested for their alleged involvement in election malpractice.
But the suspects who included some officials of the state government denied the allegations and faulted the army for parading them as criminals before the public.
INEC Electoral Officer of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Mrs. Mary Imawuya, said that the military personnel did not allow the ad hoc staff to carry out collation in their wards.
She said: “Between 7pm and 8pm on Saturday, February 23, 2019, the military invaded INEC office at Isiokpo and they walked out every ad hoc staff that were there to present their results to the Collation Officers.
The evidence is still there. We took recordings.”Also speaking, INEC Electoral Officer for Emohua Local Government Area, Kenneth Etah, blamed the disruption of the collation process in the area on the shootings by the military.
“As I speak, I do not have any results to present for Emohua Local Government Area because collation did not take place,” he said.
