Akeredolu gets certificate of return, urges police to pay personnel for Ondo poll
We paid before election, says IG
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday gave the Governor-elect in the just concluded election in Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, and his deputy, Agboola Ajayi their certificates of return.
While delivering his acceptance speech at the event in Akure, Akeredolu urged the Nigeria Police to pay the allowances of security personnel deployed for the election.
He lamented that security operatives had been coming to his house since the election day to demand money from him, claiming to be stranded and had become a burden to him.
He disclosed that the security operatives complained to him that their allowances were not paid since they were deployed for the election last week.
But in a swift reaction yesterday, the Nigeria Police said the allowances were paid even before the exercise started.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) Don Awunah said in Abuja that the leadership had paid the allowances of the personnel that were drafted to participate in the exercise a few days before it actually commenced.
According to Awunah, there were cases where some officers did not provide accurate bank details, but appropriate corrections have been made and they have started receiving their allowances.
“The payments were done through the banks into the account numbers submitted by the personnel in compliance with the policy of the Federal Government on Treasury Single Account (TSA) to ensure transparency and accountability. “The payments commenced a few days to the election and most of the personnel confirmed receipt of payment alerts into their accounts before the election.”
Akeredolu, in his speech lauded the All Progressives Congress (APC) members, security agencies and INEC for conducting “the freest, fairest and most credible election” in the history of the country, after receiving the certificate of return from INEC Supervising National Commissioner, Prince Soyebi Adedeji Solomon.
The governor-elect also lauded the opposition, saying, “They took the guts to answer the call of democracy to make a choice. I believe it is these resounding voices that have created this worthy moment, which is making this victory real and refreshing.
The governor-elect also dismissed speculations of a strained relationship between him and the National Leader of the APC, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The clarification came against the backdrop of his alleged failure to specifically acknowledge Tinubu during his acceptance speech after he was declared winner in the just concluded governorship election in Ondo state.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents, Akeredolu insisted that he did not shun Tinubu during the speech as being speculated, but noted “you don’t have to personalise and be looking for leaders all over the place. If we have to do that then I will have to mention 36 or 37 leaders.”
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, had in his speech earlier confirmed some hitches with the performance of the 4, 208 Smart Card Readers (SCRs); he attributed it to technical faults.
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