Tension arose on Sunday in Osogbo after unidentified party agents arrested an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, who attempted to tear down an election result sheet used for the Osun State governorship election.
The official, who identified himself as Salawu Mutiu Kolawole, told journalists at INEC office in Osogbo where he was brought to by the party supporters that he was directed by a senior electoral officer to remove the result sheet for St Peter’s polling centre in Ayedaade Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, he tried to inquire the reason why the officer, whom he simply identified as Mrs Aderinoye, asked him to remove the result sheet.
Kolawole said although he informed another electoral officer about the development, he went ahead with the directive and said it was during the process of removing the sheets that the party supporters saw and confronted him.
He said, “An Electoral Officer, Mrs Aderinoye, in Ayedaade council, called me and asked me to go to the council and tear the result sheet.
“Before I could ask her why I had to go and do it, she hung up. I approached another EO, Mr Oladunjoye and told him what my boss said. I went there to tear it but while doing it, two party agents met me there and arrested me.
“They brought me to INEC office after arresting me. I am not a party agent but a staff of INEC. My phone was taken from me by policemen at the gate who ushered me into the premises.”
Already, the result from Ayedaade LGA was been disputed after the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, agent at the election’s central collation centre in Osogbo, the state capital, alleged that 1,000 votes written on a sheet were deducted the from the tally publicly announced for the party’s candidate, Ademola Adeleke.
However, a Newsbreak.ng correspondent who is monitoring the collation from the television broadcast, noticed that the Chief Collating Officer for Ayedaade LGA came minutes later and announced that there were no discrepancies and that the PDP agent had verified it by going through the election sheet.
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