RIVERS State governor Nyesom Wike has said heads will roll over alleged attempts to breach the security of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Friday, March 17.
He disclosed this while addressing journalists after casting his vote at Polling Unit 7, Ward 9, Rumoprikom in the Obi-Akpor Local Government Area of the state at about 11:00 am on Saturday, March, 18.
The governor described the incident as appalling and unfortunate.
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Although he acknowledged that the INEC had denied the reports, he alleged that the Commission’s Director of Security Nebari Ndu was responsible for the breach.
“It’s very unfortunate. Unfortunate in the sense that even if INEC has denied it which is expected, I can tell you that the director of security in INEC headquarters, one Nebari Ndu, was the one that carried that out because Magnus Abe is from Ogoni and he is from Ogoni.
“So I don’t want us to go into details but heads will roll. To breach security is quite appalling. But we thank God that the headquarters have come out to deny it, and the security agencies have taken note of it and will act accordingly,” Wike said.
Speaking on the voter apathy recorded across the state, the governor said residents cannot be forced to vote.
“You know when the first election comes and goes and people don’t get what they want, obviously they are discouraged. But for whatever it is, you can’t force people to come and vote,” Wike said.
He also noted that the INEC had put up a better performance than what obtained during the presidential elections of February 25.
“From what I have seen, I have not heard any complain, I can say they’ve done very well. They have improved more than what we had on the 25th of February,” he said.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.