The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) has announced October 5 for conduct of local government elections.

The announcement came amidst the ongoing local government succession crisis caused by the conflict between Governor Siminialayi Fubara and the Martins Amaewhule-led lawmakers.

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The Governor inaugurated caretaker committees to run the affairs of the local government areas while the ousted chairmen were still laying claims to their seats following the six-month tenure elongation granted them by the Martins Amaewhule-led lawmakers.

To avert bloody clashes, the police had since taken over all the 23 secretariats of local government areas in the state pending the forthcoming judgement of the Court of Appeal.

Details Shortly…

Edo State government and the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, weekend engaged in a heated dispute over allegations of corruption within the state government.

The APC had made allegations of widespread corruption against top officials in the government.

But the war of words escalated weekend when the APC called for a thorough investigation into the alleged corrupt practices in the state government.

However, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, dismissed the APC’s claim, describing it as baseless and politically motivated.

READ ALSO: ‘You Should Be In Jail’, Nigerians Knock Senator Who Confessed Buying Votes

Addressing a press conference at the party’s secretariat in Benin, the acting State Chairman, Jarret Tenebe, said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had already invited some top government officials and should ensure they bring the investigation to its conclusion.

According to Tenebe, the much-celebrated paperless operation in government was a ploy by Governor Godwin Obaseki to delete certain critical data from the server in case they lost the forthcoming election.

He said: “The latest plan by Obaseki to make the activities of his administration paperless is a criminal plan that has been designed by one ‘Ugo’ who is in charge of e-governance to destroy all documents relating to fraudulent contracts with the excuse that Edo government has gone paperless.

“Ugo has been allegedly instructed to delete the server containing sensitive documents when the PDP loses the election on September 21, 2024. We hereby warn the governor and the head of e-governance not to delete the approvals of contracts on e-gov.”

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He also queried the N28 billion allegedly spent on a five-star hotel by the state government; the complex, he said, was already 85 per cent completed before the state government took it over from its original owner.

Tenebe also queried the modular refinery in the state which he claimed that Obaseki said was owned by the state government but after its completion, new documents have emerged suggesting that the modular refinery is now owned by an individual.

But Nehikhare dismissed the claims as baseless and politically motivated, noting that the APC and its leadership do not know how government works.

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He said: “It is unfortunate that we still have people heading political parties without an idea of how the government is run and they believe in sensationalism.

“They cannot offer any policy statement or directions for a government they are trying to form instead they are chasing shadows, making allegations that are spurious and frivolous.

“We are not going to dignify them with our response but to tell Edo people to ask this APC leadership for their plans for the state.

“That is all we asked. We need to hear their plans, and how they plan to offer a better state than we have done here in PDP.”

Reactions have trailed the confession of Olalere Oyewumi, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator, who said he bought votes during the 2023 General Election.

Vote buying was one of the major challenges that confronted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the election.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had even deployed its officials in some polling units.

In a viral video, Oyewunmi, who is the Deputy Minority Senate Leader, narrated how he sent his aide on an errand on the eve of the election with his personal money for vote buying but was rejected by strong supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking in Yoruba, the Minority Leader, who represents Osun West District, said “I tried all the tricks I knew to win at the Onilu House (Ile Onilu) polling unit but these people didn’t allow me.

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“After exhausting money for the election, I gave my personal money to Ten-Ten to give to people at night to buy votes on the eve of the election, Ten-Ten came back with my money, saying the people rejected it. I was surprised.

“That was why I reached out to these people because I cannot be a Senator and continue to fail there. I was the one who called Ayandosu from Abuja to join me in the PDP. I told him he has talent and that the party he was serving then (APC) would not allow him to grow.”

Reacting to the development, the leadership of APC through its chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, said the confession had shown that Osun election was not free and fair.

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In a statement, Lawal said: “The confessional statement of Senator Oyewumi was a confirmation of the fact that the last series of the elections in the state which secured victory for all the PDP candidates including Governor Ademola Adeleke, were brazenly rigged.

“The self-confession of Senator Oyewumi was an indication that he is a desperate politician who could go to any length to illegally corner opportunities regardless of what such portends to the right-thinking members of the society.

“In a civilized clime, Senator Oyewumi has no iota of reason to remain a minute longer in the Senate where he has been the Minority Leader based on his self-confession that he engaged in vote-buying during the election that secured a fraudulent victory for him.

“By now, Senator Oyewumi should be a guest of the statutory law enforcement agency constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of investigating such political crime involving a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

READ ALSO: Why We Can’t Conduct Council Elections Next Year — INEC

On social media, some users called on EFCC to investigate the matter.

Below are other comments:

An Instagram user, @_tomiideeh said: “Our problems are self inflicted… we are the architects of our misfortune.”

@henry_aniegboka_: “One don come out to confess, plenty more go still happen”

@lovefromify: “If only Nigeria was a decent society. Even with this… let’s see if anything can happen.”

@strithustla: “He didn’t only admit it, he said it with his mouth. In a sane country he would have been in jail by now.”

@goodnewsericoisika: “Even after the confession nothing is going to happen the youths who are suppose to act will fight each other to protect the rich / the politician that st0le from them.”

@rosywills: “All of them na same ! We never ready for Nigeria. Total overhauling is the only way. From top to bottom!!!”
@xcel_b_thyname: “The ending part, it’s about their personal growth and not the betterment of Nigeria. The buying of vote is old school, majority of them do it.”

@nagudiae: “EFCC where are you ?”