Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) as well as the Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) to clamp down on those involved in the video showing thumbprinting of ballot papers during last Saturday’s election.
Ayade, who was addressing newsmen shortly after the state security council meeting, in Calabar, maintained that the intention of the perpetrators was not only criminal, but designed to paint a bad image, as well as reduce the credibility of elections in Cross River.
“It is a cooked up video designed to embarrass the state, but God, in His infinite mercy, has a way of vindicating the innocent,” the governor remarked, while calling on the IGP and the director general of the DSS to “narrow down on this fraudulent, well choreographed, amateur display of blind wickedness with an intent to cause the Federal Government to doubt the credibility of Cross River elections.”
The governor argued that the video was not only politically motivated, but intended to hurt his re-election slated for March 9.
He said: “That was not natural, I don’t believe in that video, and I think the public should disregard the video. It is not a video for reference at any point in time. Anybody who makes reference to that video has no details of analytical impression, because if you do, you will realise there was a setup.”
While insisting that no election is perfect, the governor maintained that, “it is totally unacceptable for a man to sit inside the privacy of a room and conduct illegal act, yet, avoiding the camera catching his face and putting a bunch of money beside him, while doing an illegal thumbprint.”
Ayade, however, insisted that, “obviously, it is a stage managed video, because you can see that the man who is supposed to be recording from a vintage position, and secretly capturing people who are committing a crime, had the privilege of even zooming to the point of picking a date on a paper, and the person arranges those ballot papers, thumbprints and carries out a discussion with a deliberate plan to record, and to be heard, so, you can see it is a cooked up video designed to embarrass the state.
“The good news is that the security agencies have narrowed down on voice recognition and forensic examination of that video; we now have prime suspects and have identified the house where that incident happened, and ensured the security agencies work on that.
“It is a criminal offence, and now that we have an idea of those who are behind it, they must be investigated, they must face the full wrath of the law, and once they are found guilty, they must go to jail, and that is the only way to vindicate the credibility of our elections and character of our people.”