The national leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has exonorated the Chairman and National Commissioners of receiving any bribe to influence the conduct of the 2023 general elections in favoir of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
A group of staff of the INEC had petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleging sundry infractions, including financial sleaze which they claimed helped to compromise of the 2023 general elections.
They INEC staff who wrote the petition under the aegis of 2023 Kaduna Promoted INEC Staff, equally accused the Administrative Secretary of the Commission in Kaduna State, Mohammed Awwal Mashi of fleecing them of money meant for their promotion by paying them less than what it should be, among other allegations levelled against him in the petition being currently investigated by the EFCC.
But reacting, the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, dismissed the allegations, saying the petitioners were misconceived.
Accroding to him, “those who wrote the petition did not have the correct position of what transpired on all fronts.
“There are lots of misconceptions from those who wrote the petition. When staff members are promoted, they are paid directly from the headquarters. In that way, there is no way the Administrative Secretary or any other staff for that matter can have access to the funds.
“Even the Administrative Secretary they are accusing of misconduct is number one in that list of the promoted staff and their payments were transferred directly from the headquarters to all of the directly, so, he too was affected.
“Somebody on a higher grade level but lower step normally receives smaller salary than those on higher grade level but smaller step, this they didn’t take I to account.
“Their claims that he is a personal friend to the Chairman cannot be proved. He is a Deputy Director and most senior Deputy Directors can be promoted to higher responsibility.
“The man has never ever travelled to Australia as alleged. He has only been to Saudi Arabia for Hajj. When you look at the allegations, I don’t think they are true.
“They talked about looting N300m. It is impossible because how much is given to a state? I don’t think the allegations are correct.
“The man is now being interviewed in the process of being promoted a full director.
“The man is from Katsina State and not in anyway related to the chairman of the Commission and was never in NDA where Prof taught for over 30 years.
“It is normal that every staff is considered a friend of the chairman, so, even if ine takes it from that angle, they may be said to be right”.
Oyekanmi added that “it is normal for people to be aggrieved, but the essential thing is the differential, but it is the headquarters problem and didn’t just affect Kaduna state alone.
“All the people who where affected have been computed and they have been corrected, they will soon receive the differentials,” he said.
