My life is in danger – Abia State REC cries out

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Abia State, Professor Selina Oko, in this interview with PUNCH correspondent, STEPHEN UKANDU, speaks about the controversies surrounding the state’s governorship election

What is your personal assessment of the conduct of the elections in Abia? Do you think the Independent National Electoral Commission has done well so far?

INEC has done well except that the politicians would not allow INEC to do what it is supposed to do. The party agents were interfering and they were not supposed to interfere. They are observers not monitors but they kept interfering and dictating to INEC field officers. So, it slowed down the process. There are lots and lots of false information being dished out to the public by politicians. The parties are very desperate and they want to misinform the public to whip up sentiments.

There have been a lot of allegations of financial inducements by various parties against INEC officials – both permanent and ad hoc staff. Are you aware of this?

I just read them in the papers. Nobody has brought to us any evidence of such inducements but I do hear it as allegations. Some also sent me text messages about that saying “your staff are compromised.”

Have you tried to investigate?

Do you think if I ask them, ‘are you compromised?’ they will say ‘yes’? What I do is to warn them that if I get any report and it is true, they will face the music. But I didn’t ask them ‘is it true?’ They will normally say no.

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, alleged that his All Progressive Grand Alliance counterpart, Dr. Allex Otti, induced you with a whopping N300 million?

Tell him to produce evidence. Since he even knows the amount, it means he has evidence. So, let him produce it. And he should know that when you know of a crime and you don’t report it you are also committing a crime. He is committing a crime for not reporting it to the police. He is supposed to report to the police and not to level wild allegation in the media. He is supposed to report it to law enforcement officers and he has not done so. So he is committing a crime.

How do you intend to handle the situation if he fails to produce evidence as you have demanded?

No comment yet on how I will handle him.

He also alleged that you are Otti’s aunt. Is that true?

He is a liar. He does not know me. I did not know Otti until I came to Abia. I think Otti is from Abia. I am from Afikpo in Ebonyi State. He should go to Afikpo and trace my linage and see whether there is any link at all between me and Otti. I have never known Otti until this time. They are cooking up stories just to whip up sentiments. Besides if I am Otti’s aunt why should I then collect N300 million from him?

One of such people whose allegation I read in black and white is the so-called National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh. He said I am related to Otti. How can somebody at his level get information and not bother to verify it? All he did was to rush to the media and put it in black and white. There is something wrong with him. He is not fit to be a leader.

Both the PDP and APGA have been levelling all kinds of allegations against you and your staff. But the PDP in particular has passed a vote of no confidence in you and called for your removal as well as the Returning Officer, Professor Benjamin Ozumba.

On what grounds?

They said you are compromised.

Let them produce evidence. You don’t just say one is compromised. You produce evidence to support the allegation.

But has any politician or political party at all attempted to bribe you?

How can you ask me that type of question? You know politicians and when I answer, they will say tell us the person. Please, don’t ask me that type of question.

How do you feel about all these especially when you are trying to do your best and nobody seems to be appreciating your efforts?

It is irritating because you bring out your mind to do the work the way it should be done and people are unnecessarily trying to poison the minds of the populace. But I will not be deterred. I will still do what I know is the right thing. The Returning Officer announced that the election was inconclusive. And it was based on facts. The law says when the margin of lead between the highest scorer and the runner-up is smaller than the total number of registered voters in the polling units where election was not done or results were cancelled, there should be a rerun.

Recall that out of the 439,454 total votes cast, PDP scored 248,459 while APGA got 165,406 votes. The 83,053 margin of lead is less than the 175,532 total number of registered voters in the polling units where election did not hold or results were cancelled. That was why the exercise was declared inconclusive by the Returning Officer and the position of the Electoral Act on this is very clear. But PDP has been claiming that its candidate is leading and we failed to declare him winner. That is not the truth.

The PDP has also maintained that the Returning Officer lacked the powers to cancel the results of the poll from the three council areas of Osisioma , Obingwa , and Isiala Ngwa-North. This perhaps led to the reversal of the cancellation which APGA has also been protesting. What is your take about the entire drama?

The information we got was that the place was characterised by a lot of irregularities and that the results should be cancelled. Then the Returning Officer did that but when people raised objection, it was looked into again that instead of the blanket cancellation, let us isolate the polling units that had problems. And that was why he isolated those polling units and cancelled them.

But APGA has been going about telling its supporters that the cancellation of results in the entire three councils subsists. But you just explained it was only in the polling units that had problems. So, whose report should we believe?

The Returning Officer has made his statement by collating the results of the polling units and also the results of polling units together with the strength of voters there. And now established the polling units that should be cancelled and he has done that.

The visit by the Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, midway into the collation of results on April 12 has been raising dust in some quarters. Some people accuse him of interrupting the collation while the PDP says he has the right to protest the cancellation which it claims was a conspiracy against its candidate. What exactly happened?

He came in and said he wanted to see me at my office, and I followed him to my office.

So, what transpired in your office?

He asked me what was happening and I told him the information we got and the instruction we received. But then when the commotion continued, we got clearance and we were told ‘now look at the individual polling units and know the ones where there were irregularities or whatever.’ And that was what happened.

You said you received instruction; from who?

INEC National Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega.

Some people speculate that it was likely you were intimidated or induced during the meeting to reverse the cancellation. Could you clear the air?

I was neither intimidated nor induced by anybody. Such speculations are incorrect. People just sit down and cook up something to achieve their aim.

But frankly, what is your personal view or interpretation of the visit?

This was a collation centre. He was not supposed to visit, anyway. But somebody is trying to justify it that he only came to protest the cancellation. Well, when he came he said he wanted to see me. He did not sit at the place where we were collating results.

But some people say it was not right for him to step into the collation centre at all? Do you agree with them?

It is not for me to say whether or not it is right.

How prepared is INEC for the April 25 rerun?

We are very much prepared. Security is now tighter especially as the places involved are few. We have enough security to police the areas involved.

What about your staff? Are you going to import ad hoc staff from outside the state as being demanded by some parties?

No comments.

What is your message to voters in the areas where this exercise will hold?

My appeal to voters and ‘Abians’ in general is to allow the electoral process go on according to the electoral law.

Are you under any threat from any quarters?

Yes, I have been getting calls threatening my life. I have been getting text messages about how they will shoot me through the window of my car.

Have you reported the threats to the security agencies?

Yes, I have. I told them that my life is being threatened.

After this time, if you are asked to do INEC job again would you be willing to do it or would you like to return to the classroom from where you came?
(Laughs) Let me finish this one first before I will know whether I would do it again or not.