‘We Wrote Election Results In My Office’, Rivers APC Chair Tony Okocha Confesses

The chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, has stirred controversy after openly admitting that the results of the local government elections in the State were previously manipulated during his time in government.

Okocha made the revelation while addressing journalists, recounting his tenure as Chief of Staff under former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi.

In a startling disclosure, the APC State chairman said the process of determining election outcomes often took place before votes were cast in the State, with results allegedly prepared within the confines of his office as Chief of Staff to the Governor and later forwarded to the State Independent Electoral Commission for formal announcement to the public.

“I was chief of staff, I have handout I gave; elections could be written inside the chief of staff’s office, it was done so in my time, we did so. We will write the result and hand over to the commission; their business is to go and announce,” Okocha said.

The comments have sparked fresh concerns about the integrity of past local government elections in Rivers State, particularly given the weight of Okocha’s former position within the state’s power structure.

The development came at a politically sensitive time for Rivers State, which remains the centre of a high-stakes power tussle involving the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the incumbent Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.