Chief Tony Okocha, sacked chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has publicly admitted his involvement in rigging local council elections during the administration of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
Okocha, who served as Amaechi’s Chief of Staff from 2007 to 2015, revealed this while appearing on Channels TV.
He said he should be compensated for blowing the whistle on the issue rather than prosecuted.
He claimed that the newly reinstated chairman of APC in the state, Emeka Beke, was also involved in ballot manipulation.
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According to him, “On the issue of whether I rigged the election, I did not hide it. I should be praised as a whistleblower”.
However, when he was interrupted that election riggers should be in jail, Okocha exclaimed, “If you are an armed robber yesterday, and today you came to confess that you stole something somewhere yesterday. Are you saying that the law will now take a retroactive effect? The answer is no”.
He further explained that his public admittance to active involvement in election rigging was to prevent others from using the same tactics.
“When you have an idea of a thing and you see the other person also wants to use the tactics that you already know. You will shout. That is the reason why we went to court”.
“All of us were together including Emeka Beke,” he added.
However, the party’s incumbent chairman who appeared with him during the programme denied his involvement.
“During the election, was I part of it? Have you ever heard me say rig election?”
“Are you saying that under the Amaechi government, you never participated,” Okocha responded.
Beke continued: “I did not follow you to the election. I did not partake in any election whatsoever. When you wake up and confess and you want to put me there. I am not part of that. You rigged the election and we are going to ask the police to arrest you that you rigged the election.”
Daily Trust reports that Okocha was recently sacked as Rivers APC Caretaker Committee chairman and replaced by Beke.
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