Rivers: APC factional chairman, Okocha admits rigging election under Amaechi

Embattled Rivers State factional chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Tony Okocha, has admitted to rigging local government elections under former governor Rotimi Amaechi’s tenure.

Okocha said his rigging of local government elections under Amaechi’s tenure was not a secret.

Okocha served as the Chief of Staff to Amaechi from 2007 to 2015.

However, in an interview with Channels TV programme, Okocha said he should be praised for being a whistleblower.

According to the embattled APC chairman, election riggers should not be behind bars.

He said, “On the issue of whether I rigged the election, I did not hide it. I should be praised as a whistleblower.

“If you were an armed robber yesterday, and today you came to confess that you stole something somewhere yesterday. Are you saying that the law will now take a retroactive effect? The answer is No.

“The reason why we say and keep saying is because of what is going on as we speak. When you have an idea of a thing and you see the other person also wants to use the tactics that you already know, you will shout. That is the reason why we went to court.”