On the eve of Presidential and National Assembly elections, a member of Nigerian House of Representatives in Rivers State, Chinyere Igwe, is cooling his feet in the net of security operatives over possession of undeclared money.
Igwe, a supporter of the PDP presidential candidate was arrested in the early hours of Friday along Aba Road in Port Harcourt with about $498,100 (N373,575,000) which he claimed was allegedly given to him to ensure electoral success in Rivers State.
In previous elections, politicians have been accused of rigging polls through vote buying.
Nigeria has recently issued new banknotes, partly in order to make it harder for politicians to amass large sums of money in order to bribe voters.
However, not enough of the new notes are in circulation, leading to widespread anger and frustration. People have been queuing for hours outside banks in order to get cash, often without success, while some have attacked banks.
Some 40 per cent of Nigerians do not have bank accounts and so rely on cash to buy food, and for other everyday uses.
A source told Saturday Sun that two persons he knows were with Chinyere Igwe till around 1 a.m. on Friday.
According to the source, they (Igwe’s associates) were all in a meeting at a former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives member’s residence in the state capital till 1:30 a.m. Friday morning.
The source, who did not want to be mentioned, said one of them told him that he (Igwe’s associate) wanted to join federal lawmaker’s vehicle this morning, but his instinct advised him otherwise.
However, in a viral video, it was discovered that three persons were in the room and the video was released to the social media at about 4 a.m. by an aide to a former council chairman in the state.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker is the owner of the radio and television stations in Port Harcourt that were attacked early this week with explosive device.
State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of the lawmaker, which incident occurred at about 2:45 a.m. along Aba Road, Port Harcourt.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Grace Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police (SP), gave the confirmation in a statement she released in of the arrest.
According to Iringe-Koko, police officers from Rivers State Command deployed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters, Aba Road, while on stop-and-search operation, apprehended the suspect.
Police said Igwe, member House of Representatives representing Port Harcourt II Federal Constituency was arrested with a cash sum of 498,100 USD inside a bag in his car.
Also recovered from him was a list for distribution of the money.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police for Election, AIG Abutu Yaro, has ordered swift interrogation and arraignment in court.
The command urged all contestants and political parties to comply strictly with provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and other relevant laws.
Also, the command has encouraged members of the public to report any observation they believe have potential to lead to crime or break down of law and order.
Wike reacts
Reacting, Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike noted that they have now resorted to collect money from Abuja, because they are aware that they will not emerge victorious when they get to the polls.
The governor who was addressing crowd of supporters while he was commissioning a project in his state pointed out that the people of Rivers state would certainly exercise their rights at the polls with their PVCs, and ensure that those whom they do not support do not emerge victorious.
He said “Look at these people collecting money from Abuja, they are looking for excuse because they know they will fail on Saturday. Won’t you fail them? We will use our PVCs and pepper them.”
We arrested man with N30m new notes- EFCC
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has revealed that the commission arrested a man with N30 million of new Naira notes.
He made the revelation on Thursday, February 23.
This comes as Nigerians are finding it difficult to lay hands on the new notes. The scarcity of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1000 has led to an uprising in some parts of the country.
While speaking on TVC this morning, Bawa said
“Just yesterday, we arrested somebody with N30 million of the new naira note and the question is where did he get the money? How did he get it? Because with the policy, you are expected to get a N100,000 from ATM and N20,000 from the counter in a week. So, where did he get N30 million?”
