INEC clarifies conduct of staff tearing poll result

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has clarified the conduct of its staff, Mutiu Salawu, caught on Sunday at St. Patrick Grammar School, Gbongan, tearing the polls result for Ayedaade Local Government Area.

A video of the incident has gone viral online. In the video, Salawu said he was sent by the electoral officer for the LGA, Aderinoye Olukemi, to tear the result on the notice board at the collation centre of the LGA.

But the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Osun State, Mr Segun Agbaje, in a statement on Tuesday explained that Salawu was acting on a directive to replace the Form EC 60 which had erroneous result with the correct one.

He added that the directive was given to Salawu by Mrs Olukemi after she received information from the local government security chief of an error on the form pasted at the collation centre.

“Mr. Mutiu Salawu, being a dutiful staff, went to carry out the lawful instruction of his boss when he was accosted by a mob that rough-handled him before they took him to Adelani Rafiu Oyediran Ajanaku’s house along the New Gbongan Osogbo Road.

“There, he was humiliated, harassed and subjected to take manipulated photographs that were sent to various social digital platforms. He was then brought to the INEC State Office where he was harassed by some section of the media”.

He said when the matter was raised by Dele Adeleke, the PDP agent at the state collation centre, the original copies of the results sheets, forms EC 8A, EC 8B and EC 8C, for the LGA were examined and found to be the correct reflection of the results as reported by the LGA Collation Officer, Ayotunde Adeagbo, a staff of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

“The LGA Collation Officer, Prof. Adeagbo, accepted the fact that there was an error in the EC 60 (E) pasted at the LGA Collation Centre, especially the figure (10,836) recorded for PDP on the poster which is different from the actual votes scored (9,836) by the PDP.

“It should be noted that the INEC staff, Salawu Mutiu Kolawole, did not destroy the Result Sheet for the said election for they are intact in the custody of the Commission and copies of same are with agents of the 48 political parties that contested the Governorship Election.”

Agbaje expressed INEC’s displeasure that a section of the media reportedly broadcast the event without verification.