Deputy Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai has also been charged with official corruption, perjury and making a false declaration when he was returning officer of the 2013 Madang by-election.

According to an ABC report yesterday afternoon, police allege Sinai manipulated a recount in 2014 in favour of then petroleum and energy minister Nixon Duban.

“The votes were recorded both electronically and manually,” the head of PNG’s National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate, Chief Superintendent Matthew Damaru, said.

“For some reason, he [Simon Sinai] ordered his IT people from the Electoral Commission to send the electronic counting machine back to Port Moresby, which left him to continue the counting manually and it is alleged that through that process he manipulated the final votes.”

Police officers and scrutineers at the counting centre noted discrepancies and told second-placed candidate Peter Yama, who lodged an election petition against the result.

Mr Damaru said an investigation confirmed Mr Yama had actually scored more votes.

“Consequently he [Mr Sinai] was arrested and charged,” he said.

Mr Sinai was election manager of Morobe Province at the time of the by-election and was subsequently promoted to Deputy Electoral Commissioner, a position he held throughout the contentious 2017 national elections.

Mr Damaru said the allegations against him raised serious concerns.

“They are serious criminal offences, especially perjury and official corruption,” he said.

“As public servants, it’s a serious offence.”