… As commission’s task force arrives Port Harcourt
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Security has been beefed up at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) located on Aba Road in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, following the arrival of members of the commission’s Task Force Committee in the state.
Checks by Daily Sun gathered that members of the task force, who arrived in the state capital yesterday, were the commission’s administrative secretaries in Bayelsa, Cross River and Ebonyi states.
The task force, sources said, was set up by the acting National Chairman of INEC, Amina Bala Zakari, who mandated the members to ensure that political parties that participated in the last general elections in the state, collected the true certified copies of documents used in the elections.
Speaking on the presence of security personnel in the INEC office, the Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic (PDP) in the state, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, said it was to ensure law and order.
Nwanosike, who was the PDP governorship candidate’s agent during the election, stated: “You remember that few weeks ago, APC wrote a petition via the former governor of Rivers State, to the Director of SSS that led to the arrest of all the principal officers of INEC, including the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dame Gesila Khan, in the state. The same APC, Rivers State, that wrote the petition, had turned around and told the world that INEC had refused to give them the documents.
“All that action has, today, led to National INEC sending three administrative secretaries of Bayelsa, Cross River and Ebonyi States, as task force committee, to come and see that in seven days’ time, the true certified copies are given to both political parties. “You can see the heavy presence of security personnel here. They are here to protect everybody, both APC and PDP members. You will remember that it was only in Rivers State, that three national INEC commissioners were sent to come and monitor our elections.”
Meanwhile, the PDP has again, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to come to the aid of the state, by directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to commence immediate investigation of the administration of former governor, Chibuike Amaechi.