The embattled Rivers State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tony Okocha, has publicly admitted that he was involved in rigging local government elections during the tenure of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
Okocha, who served as Amaechi’s Chief of Staff from 2007 to 2015, was recently removed as the Rivers APC Management Committee Chairman by the Port Harcourt High Court presided over by Justice Shika Aprioku.
Naija News reports that Mr. Okocha said in an interview on Channels Television that his involvement in electoral fraud during the Amaechi administration was no secret.
The APC chief disagreed with the TV presenter’s insistence that he should be praised as a whistleblower before interrupting him by saying that election fraudsters should go to jail.
“When it comes to the question of whether there was fraud in the election, I did not hide it. I should be praised as a whistleblower,” he said.
“Suppose you were an armed robber yesterday and today you come to confess that you stole something somewhere yesterday. Does this law apply retroactively? The answer is no.
“The reason we say it and keep saying it is because of what’s happening while we’re talking. You have an idea about something and the other person wants to use tactics you already know. That’s why we went to court.”
