Osun Polls: Over-voting occurred in 6 polling units, not 749 – Adeleke attacks Oyetola

Ilesanmi AdekanbiSeptember 19, 2022

2 minutes read

Osun state Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke has disclosed that over-voting took place in only six polling units contrary to 749 claimed by Governor Adegboyega Oyetola as contained in the governor’s petition.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed on Sunday, Adeleke condemned Governor Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress, APC, for embarking on a media trial after submitting their petition at the Election Petition Tribunal.

Senator Adeleke explained that his defence at the Tribunal disproved Mr Gboyega Oyetola’s claim of over-voting in 750 polling as it was created by the incomplete data of BVAS based on the unsynchronised BVAS report that was used by the petitioners.

“We have gone into these details to show that Senator Adeleke never admitted in the polling units challenged by the APC/Oyetola except in only 6 polling units where there is real over-voting as contained in the BVAS machine itself and the Forms.

“For the benefit of members of the public, there are two aspects to the defence with respect to APC’s claim of over-voting.

“The first aspect is that the over-voting in 750 polling units as claimed by Oyetola/APC in their petition is false over-voting created by the incomplete data of BVAS based on the unsynchronised BVAS report. This does not represent what is on the BVAS machine itself and the Forms EC8A. The correct result is as captured in the synchronised BVAS report which tallies with the data on the BVAS MACHINE itself.

“The defence also affirmed further that even if the false over-voting in the unsynchronised BVAS report is unlikely admitted, the PDP will still be leading if votes from the affected six polling units are removed, adding however that “such admission is however impossible because the Tribunal will never rely on the unsynchronised BVAS report because is at variance with what is contained on the BVAS machine itself” read the statement.

It further noted that from the analysis of the BVAS machine itself and the Form EC8A which are the primary source as against the BVAS report which is secondary, real over-voting occurred in only six polling units, submitting that if the votes in those six polling units are cancelled, PDP’s score will be 402,000 plus while the APC’s will be 374,000.

“We must emphasize that the BVAS report is secondary evidence, while the BVAS machine itself and the EC8A are the primary sources, restating that “No Tribunal will believe a challenged secondary source while the primary source is physically before it.

“We, therefore, urged APC and Mr Oyetola to stop media trial as it will not intimidate the Tribunal nor sway public opinion to believe in the habitual lying and propaganda of the defeated party”, it added.