CACOL Calls For Immediate Prosecution of 23 Officials Involved in Rivers State Election Saga

The Centre for Anti-Corruption Open Leadership, CACOL has called for the prosecution of the INEC staff and others linked to the 111 million naira reported to have been recovered by the Joint Investigation Panel, which probed the legislative elections in Rivers State.

The call was made known by CACOL through its Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, who stated that it is simply unacceptable for officials involved in handling the country’s electoral processes giving the reality that such incidences only throw up corrupt leaders who pummel resources and loot public treasury at will.

He said “the immediate investigation of the circumstances under which such heinous corruption crime took place must be done to identify all those that were involved beyond the officials reported to have been arrested already. The weight of the crime and its scary consequences vis-à-vis the possibility of putting corrupt elements in power makes it expedient for the prosecution of the suspects to commence immediately. Such corrupt acts need not be delayed before culprits are made to face the wrath of the law.”

“The 23 officials; their patronizers and abettors should not escape from the hands of the law should their culpability be established. They are supposed to be umpires, watchdogs for free and fair elections not the ones distorting electoral results.”

Adeniran asserted “having corrupt people like these ones in the INEC is very harmful to the country as this would hamper good governance. The right candidate may likely never get to the position of power because of these cankerworms that destroy the Country’s Political entity.”

He explained further that the effect of having corrupt persons in public offices especially a sensitive commission like INEC is very dangerous and can only result in consolidating the institutionalization of corruption in the system.

“When the right people do not get a fair fight during elections, the bad ones come into Power and thereafter, the people suffer. Abetting crimes should carry the same punishment as the real culprits. These officials should not just be dismissed from the commission but should get the right punitive; this would help curb such practice in the system and reduce that capacity of corrupt persons to occupying public or elected offices.” The CACOL leader, concluded.