The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed reports that it appointed a former Commissioner in Lagos State as Head of its ICT department.
The National Commissioner, Information and Voter Education, Barrister Festus Okoye, said the ICT staff members are career officers, who have never held political appointments.
Okoye said the statement credited to a chieftain of the PDP in Lagos State, Chief Olabode George, was not true as the name Femi Odubiyi does not exist on the list of its ICT staff.
Okye replied George through a statement, which reads: “The attention of the Commission has been drawn to a widely publicised report attributed to a well known Lagos politician Chief Olabode George that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appointed one Femi Odubiyi, a former Commissioner in Lagos State and an associate of a prominent politician, as its Head of ICT. Nothing can be further from the truth.
“To set the record straight, the name “Femi Odubiyi” does not even exist within our ICT Department at the INEC headquarters in Abuja or any State office of the Commission.
“Our ICT staff are career officers of the Commission. None has held any political appointment in any State of the Federation.
“The public is urged to disregard the story. Its promoter should have been circumspect so as not to be seen as a purveyor of fake news.”