The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Edo State, Johnson Alalibo has honoured police summon and left the Nigeria police Command headquarters in Benin City, the State Capital.

This followed futile attempts by the law enforcement agency and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to limit the circle of manoeuvering.

Reports of his interdiction on Thursday, which was rumoured to have been ordered by the State governor, Godwin Obaseki for hours before police broke the silence, the following day.

Deputy Public Relations officer of the Nigeria Command in Edo State, ASP Jennifer Iwegbu, on Friday in a statement, said Alalibo was
“not as a suspect”, but he was interrogated by police in connection with a petition received from Mr. Anthony Aziegbemi, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Edo State Chapter.

But the spokesman of police Command in Edo State, SP. Chidi Nwabuzor had sneeringly declared, with contempt, that “I don’t have knowledge his arrest. I can’t confirm what I don’t know!” in earlier interview with a Benin-based journalist.

“How can I react to what I am not aware of”, he queried.

But the deputy Public Relations officer in the Command on Friday in a statement titled, ‘the alleged arrest of Edo State INEC Residential Electoral Commissioner is a fake news’, admitted that the REC was invited to respond to a petition, dated 20th July, 2022, against him.

She revealed that the Edo State Residential Electoral Commissioner offered informed opinions which are proving to be invaluable to the on-going police actions on the referenced petition and immediately after the meeting, the INEC REC left the Command’s headquarters.

“In furtherance to this and in appreciation of the inter-agency collaborative relationship between the Police and INEC in the Command, the Edo State INEC Residential Electoral Commissioner was invited, not as a suspect as being falsely projected in the media, but as an expert source to meet with the police leadership in the Command towards aiding us in addressing the technical issues in the investigative process.

“It must be clarified further that such administrative interactions between the leaderships of the Nigeria Police and INEC in Edo State is routine and not new.

“Following the meeting, the Edo State Residential Electoral Commissioner offered informed opinions which are proving to be invaluable to the on-going police actions on the referenced petition and immediately after the meeting, the INEC REC left the Command Headquarters.

“The fact of the matter is that a petition which was dated 20th July, 2022 was received from Dr Anthony Aziegbemi, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Edo State Chapter.

“The petition contained certain components that required informed and expert opinion which the Independent National Electoral Commission was best suited to provide towards aiding the Force in arriving at a credible investigative outcome.

Besides, INEC anagement staff in Benin had earlier denied police interrogation of Alalibo after an insiders familiar with the development, confronted the official with the incident.

Our Correspondent recalls a top official in Edo State government had confirmed the strained relationship between the State government and the REC.

The unnamed official in a statement, accused the REC of refusing to monitor PDP primaries for the 2023 general elections in State.

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