The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) says the military intervened in the governorship
and house of assembly elections in Rivers state but it could not say if the
involvement was to rig.
INEC had suspended the process
because of widespread violence.
While fielding questions on
Channels TV on Monday, Festus Okoye, INEC’s director of information and voter
education, said the commission went on a fact-finding mission to the state
based on what it discovered.
“The fact finding mission that we
sent to Rivers established the fact that the military intervened in some
places,” he said.
“We saw them in INEC office and
they agreed that they were at some collation centres on election day.
“We did not go out to establish
the fact about who rigged elections or who did not rig. What we want to ensure
is that we complete collation of results in Rivers.
“We made a determination that the
army got involved in the electoral process but whether their involvement in the
process was to rig the elections, I am not in a position to make a
determination on that.”
Earlier, INEC had said collation
centres were invaded by some soldiers and armed gangs resulting in the
intimidation and unlawful arrest of election officials.
Recall that we had also reported how
soldiers and policemen clashed at the head office of the INEC in Rivers state.
The argument broke out over who
should be in charge of security at the office which served as the state
collation center.
The commission has said results
of 17 LGAs were intact and that it would announce the next line of action on
Wednesday.
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