Anthony Okocha, former chief of staff to ex-Governor Rotimi Amaechi who recently boasted of election rigging, has become the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman in Rivers State.

Before he was elected unopposed during the party’s delegate congress on Saturday, Okocha was the caretaker chairman of the APC in Rivers.

In July, FIJ reported how Okocha confessed to participating in electoral malpractice while serving as Amaechi’s chief of staff.

READ MORE: We Wrote Election Results for SIEC, Amaechi’s Chief of Staff Confesses

He served as chief of staff from 2007 to 2015. While he was addressing journalists on local government autonomy and elections on July 17, he stated instances of election malpractice through his office.

Citing his experience of writing elections for the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), Okocha said the state commission should no longer be responsible for conducting elections to ensure fairness.

“I was Chief of Staff; I gave handouts. I gave. Elections could be written inside the Chief of Staff’s office. It was done so in my time. We did so,” Okocha said.

“We would write the result and hand it over to the commission. Their business is to go and announce. And, of course, after announcing the results, if you feel aggrieved, you’ll present before the tribunal. The tribunal is set up by the state government. They also have their own handouts.”

READ ALSO: Police, INEC Silent After Amaechi’s Chief of Staff’s Rigging Confession

Okocha repeated this confession in October while being interviewed on a Channels TV programme. He even said he deserved accolades for admitting to electoral malpractice: “On the issue of whether I rigged the election, I did not hide it. I should be praised as a whistle-blower.”

When FIJ checked the social media pages of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for any response to the rigging confession at the time, no official statement was found.