The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested one Ejike Nwankwo a staff of Akwa Ibom State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for allegedly being in illegal possession of four card readers after the 2019 general election.
The suspect as gathered was arrested last week Friday during the routine stop-and-search by the officers and men.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko Macdon, who confirmed the arrest, said the suspect has since been released on bail while a ‘’discreet’’ investigation was on-going to get to the bottom of the matter.
According to him, “the Police have written to the electoral body for more details on the four card readers.
‘’Yes, there was an arrest by the men of the Command and the said person is an INEC staff. He was found to be in possession of four card readers. We have written to the Commission demanding to know why he was in possession of the card readers.
‘’One, we know he is with the ICT department after we had carried out a preliminary investigation. The Commissioner of Police has ordered us to carry out a more discreet investigation into the matter.”
‘’INEC is in a better position to explain why he was in possession of the card readers. Our own is to apprehend offenders and prosecute them’’.
The All Progressives Congress (APC), had alleged that the Commission’s staff was arrested with ‘’recalibrated card readers’’, suggesting that the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini was engaging card reader technicians to ‘’help him valid the doctored 2019 elections in Akwa Ibom State’’.
But the Public Affairs Officer of , INEC in Akwa Ibom Mr Don Etukudoh, on Wednesday in a release made available to Newsmen explained that the four ‘’empty card readers were used for training of Ad hoc staff by the officer during the elections’’.
He emphasized that ‘’the four card readers do not have data in them that could have influenced or effect the process or outcome of the elections’’.
He said the suspect was incapacitated just after the polls and could not return the card readers because of the illness but left them in his car, which was taken to the mechanic by his brother-in-law while he was in the hospital.
He also explained that ‘’In the hierarchy of reporting the officer does not report directly to the Commissioner but to his unit head who reports to his head of department who in turn reports to the resident electoral Commissioner .
