INEC Bribe Recovery: Rivers State Government Accuses Police Of Blackmail

The rivers state government has denied reports that the Nigerian police recovered N111 million naira from INEC officials allegedly bribed by the state’s governor, Nyesom Wike, in the last rerun elections.

In a statement signed by Mr. Austin Tam west,the state commissioner for information, the RSG chided the police the Nigerian police for trying to ‘mislead’ the public.

The statement read;

The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the melodramatic images of heaps of cash, circulated in the media by the so-called police panel of inquiry into the re-run elections in Rivers State, on the 10th of December 2016.

According to the Police, the heaps of money were “evidence” of bribe allegedly given to officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, during the rerun polls.

We consider the allegations of the Police as shameful, defamatory and reckless in the extreme. Never in the annals of infamy have we seen a vital State security institution descend to the lowest depths of blackmail and criminality, as the Nigeria Police Force has done in this case.

A month ago, we alerted the world to the dark, Orwellian plot by the Nigeria Police to implicate governor Wike in a phoney bribe scandal. Now, the Police appears to be acting with shocking predictability, by making wild and completely groundless allegations against Wike.

The Rivers State Government challenges the Nigeria Police to show proof that Governor Wike financially induced any official of INEC. Does the Police have Bank records of the purported transactions between Governor Wike and the Electoral Officers? We challenge the Nigeria Police to move quickly to prosecute and imprison the so-called Electoral Officers on the basis of this dubious investigation.

We strongly believe that the police panel is part of a bitter, politically-driven smear campaign launched by the Federal Government against Governor Nyesom Wike, and the people of Rivers State.

We also believe that the Police is desperately seeking to divert attention from the disgraceful and criminal roles played by its officials, in the snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes during the December polls.

Rivers State will not succumb to the juvenile antics of the All Progressives Congress and its security surrogates.

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How Two Men Raped A Woman Inside A Mosque In Oyo. Robbed Her Afterwards (Photo)Y

Two night watchmen in an Ibadan filling station, paraded by Oyo State Police Command, weekend, confessed to have raped a stranded woman inside a mosque, after dispossessing her of her personal effects. .

While parading the suspects, Olajide Olakanmi and Olanrewaju Taiwo, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sam Adegbuyi, said they also robbed the stranded woman of her money and property. .

Adegbuyi said: “On February 1, at about 1a.m., two night guards attached to a filling station along Ologuneru-Eruwa Road, attacked a female, who had sought refuge at a nearby mosque and robbed her of her belongings, including phone and cash.


The men, armed with guns and cutlasses, also raped the victim before they escaped. However, due to thorough investigation, the two suspects, later identified as Olajide Olakanmi, aged 30, and Olanrewaju Taiwo, aged 29 were arrested.”


Giving details of what the victim was doing in the mosque at that time, the CP said she was coming from Niger State and arrived Ologuneru area around 11p.m. She was unable to get a vehicle to her dad’s place, near Eruwa. .

Adegbuyi added: “Then, a good Samaritan, who is a commercial motorcyclist, took her to the mosque to pass the night. But the suspects came from a nearby filling station and attacked her.”

The victim said her attackers stole N32,000 from her. When interviewed, the suspects confessed that they actually raped their victim and robbed her of her phone and money.

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Why Osinbajo can’t reveal Buhari’s health status

Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has stated that he is not in the position to disclose the true health status of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians.
He said the President would tell Nigerians at the right time.

Speaking with State House correspondents shortly after meeting behind closed doors with the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the Acting President said he was not in any way under pressure to resign as reported in a section of the media last weekend.
He insisted that the President is hale and hearty and would address the nation at the appropriate time.
Buhari who was expected to resume duties today, following the expiration of his 10-day vacation, Sunday announced the extension of his vacation indefinitely.
Osinbajo said he had earlier spoken with Buhari, who is currently in London, to keep him posted on developments in the country, especially with regard to the 2017 Budget and the protests embarked upon by some Nigerians.

When asked by the media the status of the President’s health, Osinbajo said, “He is in the best position to answer that. He would do that as soon as possible. We spoke extensively today regarding the 2017 and the protest embarked upon by Nigerians.”

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we hear you loud and clear - Osinbajo says to protesters

•’We hear you loud and clear’ 
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo  yesterday told Nigerians that the Federal Government was addressing Nigeria’s “serious economic situation”.
To those who protested, he said: “We hear you loud and clear”.
Recalling a similar remark by President Muhammadu Buhari a few months ago,  Osinbajo said he had gone round the country and the complaints of the people on the economy were similar to what the protesters complained about.
According to him, the rot of many years could not be addressed overnight.
But he said the government remained committed to turning around the trend and placing Nigeria on the path of growth.
There were protests against the hardship being experienced in the country in Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan.
In Abuja, a group protested in support of the government. In Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the protesters failed to gather at the advertised venue.
Minister of Transportation Chibuike Amaechi, also yesterday, said Nigerians should be patient with the government as it had four years to deliver on its promise.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the consultative forum between the Economic Management Team and the Private Sector on the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, the Acting President said:  ”We are in a serious economic situation and the President was particularly concerned about the lot of the common man.
“And I quote him, “Recession today for many… for  some its means not being able to pay school fees, for others not being able to afford high cost of rice and millets and for most of our young people recession means joblessness…’
“I for one have been across the states and even today some people are out on the streets, protesting that things are difficult. What we are saying to every Nigerian is that  ’we hear you loud and clear’, and we are determined to recover the economy. You have a right to demand for a better economy and we are committed to see it happen.
“Years of deterioration cannot be reversed overnight. Again, it has to be said that it’s our business, it’s our duty to ensure that we put the Nigerian economy on the track of recovery,” he said
Osinbajo spoke of how the government had intervened three times to assist states in the past 18 months to pay salaries.
He added: “And the last intervention was in December when we paid the Paris Club refund to the states. This are funds that the Federal Government had been owing states since 2005. This was to enable states pay their workers and we tend to believe that this is what is being done.”
The Acting President also spoke about the social intervention fund.
This, he said, included payment of N5,000 monthly to the poorest citizens, the home grown feeding programme in several states, and the credit facility to 1.6 million traders and artisans.
Stressing the importance of engaging the private sector in the economic recovery plan, Osinbajo said that the government could not do it alone.
“Your participation is your own commitment to the future of our country and to those coming behind us,” he said.
In Ilorin during the North Central Town Hall meeting by the Federal Government, Amaechi said the All Progressives Congress (APC) government did not promise to fix Nigeria’s problems within a year. He urged Nigerians to wait till the end of four years, adding that the government heard the cries of Nigerians.
“We did not promise you that those challenges will be solved in one year. If we promise you that those challenges would be solved in one year you would have given us one year but you gave us four years mandate; so wait till the end of four years,” Amaechi said.

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