By Olajide Idowu
Osun State office of INEC on Thursday in Osogbo 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.
Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity and Inclusivity in the office, 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.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dr Agboke 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 were over-voting in 10 of the 30 local government areas of the state during the election. (NAN)
