The Zone 9 Police Command, Umuahia, has commenced investigations into an alleged attempt by two Information Communication Technology workers of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abia State to steal sensitive electoral materials, including card readers, from INEC’s strongroom in Umuahia.
According to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Selina Oko, the suspects attempted to remove seven card readers from INEC office without authorisation.
The REC, in an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday in Umuahia, said the suspects did not seek her consent before attempting to remove the sensitive materials, describing the action as illegal and unacceptable.
Oko, who dissociated herself from the action, said she only got to know about it when some police officers from the Zone 9 headquarters came to pick up the suspects at the early hours of Tuesday.
She said, “I only learnt about the incident today. I was told there was a vehicle belonging to one of our staff which had sensitive materials and I found out it was true. Then I asked him, ‘Do you mean you leave this place with sensitive materials without my authorisation?’
“So, there was no authorisation to remove materials. In fact, the long and short of it is that I have handed them over to the police.”
The REC gave the name of the suspect as Nnamdi Nwabuko.
He added that the police also invited for questioning, the Head of Department of ICT, Mr. Herbert Ejiofor, “since the suspect is working directly under him.”
She said the two employees, seven card readers and the Toyota Camry car, belonging to the ICT employee, had been handed over to the police.
The REC said the police, at the gate of the Commission’s premises discovered the sensitive materials during a stop-and-search on Monday evening and prevented the car from leaving the INEC office.
Oko added, “Then this morning, police came and picked the car, the materials and, of course, the suspects.
“If they had sought my approval, I wouldn’t have approved it because I find it difficult to take away sensitive materials, even myself. The only sensitive material I have authorised to move is when my boss, Professor Attahiru Jega, tells me to send this or that.
“All I did was to go to his car and started asking him why they were doing that. And he said he was going to work with it. And I asked him, ‘Without my permission?’ But since the police are already involved, I will leave the police to do their work.”
Asked whether the suspects were among his trusted staff, the REC said she only assumed duty in Abia in January, 2015 and had not taken time to test the integrity of the members of staff.
The REC said, “Police should investigate and take the right action and if they need information from me, I will provide.”
Asked of her feeling on the discovery, she said, “Why won’t I condemn it when they are removing sensitive materials without my approval?
“I don’t know; it is just that this one was brought to my notice this morning and that is why I allowed the police to take them away.”
The REC was further asked whether she did not consider it worrisome that some other sensitive materials, especially result sheets, could be tampered with before the election tribunals commence sitting. She said, “If result sheets are tampered with there will be evidence.
“I am not saying they won’t attempt tampering with it, but if it is done, the evidence will show, because even the party agents and police have their copies.”
The REC also confirmed an attempt to burn down INEC office in Obingwa Local Government Area last week. She added that the Electoral Officer in the council told her that the arsonists tried to throw fire into the office through the window but the entire office could not be razed.
She noted that the commission’s office at Isiala Ngwa South LGA was also burnt down by unknown arsonists shortly after the poll, but added that the Commissioner of Police, Joshak Habila, had directed his men to beef up security around INEC offices in the LGAs.
Head of Intelligence and Surveillance of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Chief Chidi Ahiabuike, said he gathered from his source that the HOD “conspired with some people to move some materials out from INEC to enable them to perfect their rigging plans.”
He alleged that the materials the suspects attempted to take away included result sheets of the controversial Osisioma, Obingwa and Isiala Ngwa North LGAs, whose results were cancelled but later reinstated by the Returning Officer, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba.
He said, “From the information that we got, there is an ICT expert that can manipulate the card readers. They have been working on this for the past one week, according to our surveillance, and they wanted to execute it last night but unfortunately for them, a new police officer, who was deployed in INEC, caught them.”
The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 9, Mr. Usman Gwarri, confirmed the incident but said investigations were ongoing to establish the real motives of the suspects.
He said, “We will do our investigations and after that we will establish whether any crime was intended to be done.”

source.... www.punchng.com/news/inec-officials-arrested-for-alleged-card-reader-theft/

them wan use am make call na

Alex Otti May 5 at 11:42pm ·

Two arrests were made this morning, Mr. Nwabuko Nnamdi, ICT Engr. and Head of ICT Department Engr. Ejiofor Herbert. Following their confessions, 6 more arrests have been made later today , Names of the Six INEC staff arrested in Umuahia today for electoral fraud involving Card Reader machines for Obingwa LGA. are;

1. Amauche Ebi Dike - ICT Department
2. Charles Mba - ICT Department.
3. Nkem Ichita - ICT DEPT.
4. Esther David - Commissioners Confidential Secretary (RECs secretary)
5. UCHE Enyioma - ICT DEPT.
6. Innocent Enyioma - EPM making a total of 8 Abia State INEC staff Presently in police net.(Zone 9 ) Umuahia.

Meanwhile there is a plot by Gov. Theodore Orji of Abia state to compromise the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) of Police, Zone 9, Umuahia, Mr. Usman Gwary, to release unconditionally the six members of staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), arrested on Tuesday in Umuahia for allegedly attempting to take away seven card readers and result sheets from the commission's office has been uncovered.

An impeccable source at Zone 9 said that the governor had offered ''irresistible'' and ''mouth watering'' sum of money to the AIG ''to release the suspects and kill the report.''
The source said on the condition of anonymity that the governor was ''jittery'' that the arrested persons ''might spill the milk'' and expose the way the governorship result was manipulated to favour the PDP candidate against the candidate of APGA, Dr. Alex Otti.
The source further said that ''it is not clear yet whether the AIG has accepted the money to kill the case because the money can be paid into the bank without my knowledge.''
It was gathered that the governor personally went to meet the AIG in his quarters to solicit his ''immediate intervention before the matter would get to the press.''
It was learnt that the card readers and the result sheets were deployed in Obingwa Local Government Area, where a whooping 82,240 votes were credited to PDP as against 1,952 votes for APGA, even when elections did not take place in the area.
Sources at INEC said that no card reader was used for accreditation in Obingwa, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo and Isialangwa North Local Government Areas during the governorship poll.

Meanwhile, confessional statements by the arrested INEC staff showed that the card readers were being taken away so that ''ICT experts can manipulate them to support the number of votes ''criminally'' allocated to PDP governorship candidate in the election.''
We must get back your mandate , continue to have faith and trust God.

https://www.facebook.com/IamAlexotti?fref=nf

Dr. Okezuo Victor Ekpeazu (PDP) = Abia Government + INEC + Tugs + Security Officials + Press + Tribunal.

Dr. Alex Otti (APGA) = God + Masses (Indebted Abia Civil/Public Servants, Abia Pensioners, Unemployed youths, Non-Abia Disengaged Indigenes, etc).

People's stolen mandate must be brought back.

Destiny can only be delayed, but can never be denied.

Almighty God is at work.