A police officer in the ongoing 2020 Edo governorship election demanded bribe from a Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) observer on Saturday.

The officer, posted to the Okada junction along Sagamu-Ibadan expressway stopped the journalist from going forth even after he showed his identity.

“I was stopped at Okada Junction (along Sagamu-Ibadan expressway) and was refused a pass to move to Ofunmwegbe & Okada East wards.

“I showed the police officer-in-charge my card, but he insisted that I should be stationed at one polling unit and can only move across with an official car.

“After more than five minutes of discussion, he told me that I won’t be able to return to base. I took some minutes to think it over and called my superiors for instructions. I was advised to return to Okada West.

“I dropped out of the car to explain the situation to the officer-in-charge.”

According to the observer, the police officer asked him where he got the car from.

”I replied, ‘I hired it’. He asked, ‘how much?’ and I replied, ‘N15,000.’ Then he asked for his share (bribe) and ordered one of his boys to go collect it from my driver.

“I called my superiors again to apprise them of the situation while my driver conversed with the officer that was ordered to collect the bribe. On getting to the car, the officer, who was ordered to collect the bribe said we could go. As we drove past the officer-in-charge, he asked, ‘you don see am’ and I replied ‘yes’ knowing that we would be delayed if I said no.

“I asked my driver if he gave out any money and he said, no.”

A total number 14 political parties presented candidates for the Edo election, including the two front-runners, the All Progressive Congress(APC) Candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki, contesting under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).