The Peoples Democratic Party has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to publicly address allegations that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, offered land and cash gifts to senior officials of the commission.
The opposition party made the demand on Tuesday in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong.
According to the PDP, reports circulating in the media are “very disturbing” and have the potential to erode public confidence in the electoral body.
“Last week, the news media was awash with stories of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, @GovWike offering land and cash gifts to senior staff of the Commission.
“Later, another news item surfaced wherein Mr. Mohammed Kudu Haruna, who is the Supervising National Commissioner for the FCT, was quoted to have admitted the land gift.
“It is curious that these land gifts are given to officials in agencies critical to elections, whereas there are other officials in critical development sectors, like healthcare professionals, teachers, and even security officials whose duties demand that they live in the capital city.
“We have not heard of any land allocation to these people, obviously because they are not directly related to the election process,” the statement said.
The PDP further insisted that the Chairman of INEC, Joash Amupitan, must respond to the allegations.
“We hereby demand that the National Chairman of INEC comes clean on these allegations against his top officials, and even himself, as he has also been alleged to be a beneficiary. These stories, at a time like this, deepen the erosion of public trust in an electoral umpire with a legacy of stained credibility.
“Therefore, the Commission should, as a matter of urgency and priority, inform the public of the true situation regarding this matter.
“The Commission must remember at all times that it must strive to be, like Caesar’s wife, above board, and ensure that transparency and impartiality are not just watchwords but are obvious in both its words and actions.”
