The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied
admitting that there was over-voting during the July 16, 2022 governorship
election in Osun State as alleged by the Governorship Election Tribunal leading
to the sacking of governor Adeleke by
the tribunal.
INEC was reacting to reports
that its Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Osun, Dr Mutiu Agboke,
acknowledged over-voting during the election leading to the sacking of Governor
Ademola Adeleke by the state’s election tribunal.
The Head of the
Department, Voter Education, Publicity and Inclusivity in the INEC office in
Osun, Mr Adewale Francis, stated that the over-voting statement credited to
Agboke was incorrect and mischievous.
“The attention of the
Osun State office of INEC has been drawn to media reports that the Resident
Electoral Commissioner, Dr Mutiu Agboke, purportedly said that there was
over-voting during the election.
“The report is incorrect
and mischievous.
“The REC only explained
the efficacy of the Biomodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) as a device for
the accreditation of voters when he visited the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba AbdulRasheed
Akanbi.
“Any extrapolation to the contrary is outside the context of the
statement and should be disregarded.
“We implore the media to
always verify their source of information before publication,’’ he stated.
Agboke had visited Oba
Akanbi in Iwo on Tuesday when he explained the workings of the BVAS machines.
He was, however,
reported by some media outfits as saying the BVAS machines were used or
manipulated by some INEC staff and politicians to commit over-voting during the
governorship election in Osun.
An election Petition
Tribunal led by Justice Terste Kume, nullified the election of Gov. Ademola
Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Jan. 27.
It declared that Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) was the actual winner of the election.
It declared also that
there was over-voting in 10 of the 30 local government areas of the state
during the election.
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