Osun REC misquoted on over-voting comment in gov poll – INEC
BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI
Osun State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday in Osogbo, the state capital, dismissed media reports that its Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Mutiu Agboke, said there was over-voting during the July 16, 2022 governorship election in the state.
The Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity and Inclusivity in the office, Mr. Adewale Francis, in a statement made available to journalists on Thursday, 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 Iwoland, Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi.
“Any extrapolation to the contrary is outside the context of the statement and should be disregarded.
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“We implore the media to always verify their source of information before publication,” he said.
It will be recalled that Dr. Agboke had visited Oba Akanbi in Iwo on Tuesday when he explained the workings of the BVAS machines to the monarch during their discussion.
Some media online outfits had reported that he said 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, had nullified the election of Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on January 27, declaring that Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was the valid winner of the election.
It also declared that there were over-voting in 10 of the 30 local government areas of the state during the election, the deduction of which it said changed the initial outcome of the election.
Adeleke has since appealed the tribunal judgment.
