THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed reports that its Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mutiu Agboke, claimed that there was over-voting during the July 16, 2022, governorship election in the state.
The Commission debunked the reports in a statement issued by the INEC Head of the Department of Voter Education, Publicity and Inclusivity in the state, Adewale Francis, on Thursday, February 2.
The statement said the comments credited to Agboke werr incorrect and misleading.
The Commission stressed that the REC only spoke about the efficacy of the Biometric Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) as a tool for voter accreditation during his visit to the Oluwo of Iwo, AbdulRasheed Akanbi.
While calling on the media to verify their sources of information before publishing any reports, INEC stated that any extrapolation made beyond the context of the statement should be disregarded.
The statement reiterated that Agboke’s visit to Oba Akanbi in Iwo on Tuesday was aimed at explaining the workings of the BVAS machines.
However, some media outlets reported that Agboke claimed that some INEC staff and politicians manipulated the BVAS machines to commit over-voting during the Osun governorship election.
Last month, the state governorship election Petition Tribunal led by Justice Terste Kume nullified the election of the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Ademola Adeleke, and declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, as the actual winner of the election.
The tribunal also stated that there were over-votings in 10 of the 30 local government areas of the state during the election.
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