Edo Guber: Wike’s Cousin Onuoha Vows To Stay As INEC REC, Tension Builds

With than 24 hours to the Edo State gubernatorial election, tension is building across the state with more deployment of soldiers and heavily armed police men who have taken strategic positions in a show of force.

This is as Anugbum Onuoha, a cousin to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has remained defiant, challenging political parties to prove if has done anything wrong since being appointed the Edo Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).

Onuoha insisted he will stay on to conduct the September 21 governorship election in the state, touting his academic pedigree and saying most of all as a Nigerian, he is not precluded from being appointed a REC, a position he said he had served in his home state of Rivers.

He has come under serious scrutiny following a trust deficit allegation in the lead up to the election, especially from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The party had accused Wike of working from within to ensure the All Progressives Congress, under which he’s a minister, wins. The party also accused Onuoha of playing the script written by him.

Wike admitted that Onuoha indeed is his cousin but insisted that those criticising the Edo REC were just crying foul.

Speaking as a guest on Channels Television on Friday, a day before the election, Onuoha said he is competent enough to conduct a free and fair election and that his closeness to Wike does not count, as he was competent to handle the election.

“It is a fact that I am a cousin to the minister. Before my appointment, I was invited by the Senate. It screened me, and I was confirmed. I was sworn in by Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, and posted to Edo.

“Since last year, nobody has complained that I am a cousin to the minister. Of course, I am a cousin to the minister. What we should be talking about at this time is the capacity to conduct the election,” he said.

He emphasised that, “From my background, I am an Associate Professor of Law. People should now ask if I have done this job before. Yes, I was an electoral commissioner in Rivers State.

“Nobody has complained. I am coming from the university. I am not a politician. The mere fact that I am a cousin to Wike does not preclude me from being appointed.

“Am I not a Nigerian? Nigerians should have gone beyond this level,” he said.

Meanwhile heavily armed soldiers and police officers have been deployed to many the local government areas where election materials have been shared to causing human and vehicular traffic as roads across the LGs have been sealed off.