Following controversies which trailed the declaration of the candidate of the People Democratic Party, PDP, winner of the just concluded September 19 governorship election in the State, an adhoc staff, Iyamu Ivie Joy, has been declared wanted by the authorities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and the police, acting on the instructions of the Federal Government over her perceived involvement in the influence of card reader machine to favour the PDP.
The community youths suspected to be supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, had immediately after the announcement of the election results, petitioned against the adhoc staff, whom, they accused of collecting money from corrupt politicians as well as manipulating the card reader not to capture some of them and coupled with the facts that she never compromised to allow some of their supporters who have voted before to revote to favour their party and its candidate.
It would be recalled that Iyamu Ivie Joy, a computer science graduate of the Benson Idahosa University, BIU, Benin City, was employed as one of the adhoc staff for the governorship election between the incumbent governor, Mr. Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki of the PDP and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the APC.
Speaking with Journalists, who were monitoring the voting/electioneering process at Aruosa primary school in Umagbae North Ward in Uhunmwode Local Government Area of the state, where the said Iyamu Ivie Joy, was INEC official as an adhoc staff, a source who was privy to the development, said that as some of the supporters of the PDP discovered that the voting process was ongoing smoothly, tried to induce her ( adhoc staff) and other INEC officials with money amounting to N1Million, even without upholding the oath of allegiance she sworn to.
He said that no sooner she was induced than the opposition party, APC, also came with the same intents and purposes and they tried to force her to allow their supporters, who had initially voted, to vote again, even when it is absolutely clear that it is an electoral offence which carry grievous penalty.
The source added that at the middle of the voting process, the APC youths had continually accused the adhoc staff of not making the card reader machine to be functioning well, whereas she was not directly responsible for the inefficiency of the machine before they came up with the accusation that because she was occupying a position in the government as a Special Adviser to the governor on media, with specific interest in social media, that was the reason she worked for the victory of PDP, and in the process of having the premonition of their party possible loss in the election, they (APC youths) became violent to the extent that they tried to scuttle the voting process and after exhausting all means to rig the election but to no avail, they started shooting sporadically to the extent that stray bullets killed some voters.
The source further said that after the election, the youths of the community who are supporters of APC, wrote a petition that the governorship election in their ward was not free and fair and that she (Iyamu Ivie Joy) has collected money from both political parties and worked for the victory of PDP, maintaining that they have considered the jail penalty as the electoral law which proclaims 21yrs imprisonment for any INEC adhoc staff, caught comprising his/her role to favour one political party during election, instead of saying they tried to make underage children less than 18yrs to vote but she did not accept.
But embarrassed by the claims in the petition, the Chairman of the independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood therefore ordered her arrest, just as the federal Government through the office of the Honorable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, ordered the police to arrest her, stressing that as the threats from the APC youths to kill her became tense, she escaped.
Her escape further excercabated already bad situation as the police who have not carried out diligent investigations into the alleged case, hurriedly declared her wanted to enable her face prosecution and persecution, insisting that the police, had launched manhunt against her in this regard.
