INEC debunks remark about voting in Osun poll

INEC’s Osun State office in Osogbo on Thursday rejected media reports that the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, said there was too much voting in the July 16, 2022 gubernatorial election in the state.

Head of the Office’s Voter Education, Publicity and Inclusion Department, Mr. Adewale Francis, stated that the overvote statement attributed to Agboke was false and mischievous.

“The attention of INEC’s Osun State Office has been drawn to media reports that the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, reportedly said that the election was overvoted.

“The report is false and mischievous.

“The REC only explained the effectiveness of the Biomodal Voters Accreditation System as a voter accreditation device 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 publishing,” he stated.

Nigeria’s news agency reports that Dr Agboke visited Oba Akanbi in Iwo on Tuesday, where he explained how the BVAS machines work.

However, it was reported by some media outfits that the BVAS machines were used or manipulated by some INEC employees and politicians to over-vote during the Osun governorship election.

An election petition tribunal led by Judge Terste Kume overturned the January 27 election of People’s Democratic Party Governor Ademola Adeleke.

It stated that Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress was the actual winner of the election.

It also stated that there were overvotes in 10 of the state’s 30 local government areas during the election.

NAN