The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied taking money from the candidate of Labour Party in last November governorship election in Imo State, Senator Nathan Achonu.
The electoral umpire, which made the denial while reacting to an allegation by Senator Achonu, said it never took any money from the candidate, challenging him to provide the bank accounts he paid into or name the officials he paid.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi said it is not in the character of INEC to “extort” individuals.
Read also: Imo LP candidate, Achonu vows to pursue his case to S’ Court
Oyekanmi said: “It is not in the character of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to extort individuals.
“Our process is clear: if an individual requests for a document under the Freedom of Information Act or as a Petitioner, and there are necessary fees to be paid, the sums are disclosed and the individual pays into the account of the Federal Government of Nigeria, not a personal account.
“If the Senator made any payment into any personal account, I want to encourage him to publicly disclose it and also make the name(s) of the account holders available to us for immediate investigation. We are not in the business of extortion Nigerians”.
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