Rivers REC Dismisses Transfer Rumours, Says No Regrets Over DSS Ordeal

Gesila KhanThe Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers, Mrs. Gesila Khan, has said she is still in charge as the state REC and has not been transferred.
There were rumours over the weekend that Khan had been transferred out of the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The state REC, who was alleged to have been arrested and detained by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, made the clarification on Monday at the state INEC office, Port Harcourt, during the ongoing inspection and certification of materials used for the 2015 polls.
Khan maintained that she would not have been part of the ongoing exercise at the state INEC office if she had been transferred as speculated.
“I am here and I am still here. I have not been transferred. If I have been transferred, I should not be sitting here; I should be picking my things. Even if I am transferred, there is nothing wrong with that because it is government work and anytime you are called to move, you move. But for now, I have not been called to move”, she pointed out.
On whether she has any regret as a result of her experience so far in Rivers, the REC said, “I have no regret whatsoever. I am a Human Resources practitioner, so, anything you see in life, you move along with it. You cannot predict man. They are free to think and say what they want”.
She also noted that the photocopying of election materials and certification of documents were going on without any hitch just as she added that the deployment of three administrative secretaries from INEC headquarters to assist in the exercise was necessary, so as not to delay the submission of required materials to the election tribunal.
“During the presidential election, three national commissioners came; during the governorship election, three national commissioners came and now again, we have three administrative secretaries. That is just to make the job fast and you know the tribunals are time-bound and the work (sorting our election materials) is voluminous.
“We have been working since. Today, it is either this document or another. Some they want in long hand while some they want it in short hand. So, the law says when they request, you give them and since the time is very short, we have to”, she said.

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