Addressing a press conference, Olusegun Agbaje, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, insisted that the result sheet destroyed by Mutiu Salawu, the electoral officer for Ayedaade, contained the wrong figure.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has clarified the controversy surrounding the election result of Ayedaade Local Government Area in the Osun State governorship election held on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference, Olusegun Agbaje, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, insisted that the result sheet destroyed by Mutiu Salawu, the electoral officer for Ayedaade, contained the wrong figure.
According to Agbaje, "The electoral officer for Ayedaade LGA, Mrs Aderinoye Olukemi Alice, on the information she received from the Local Government Security Chief (LGSC) that there was an error on the Form EC 60 (E) INEC Publication of Result of Poll Poster, pasted at the Local Government Collation Centre, i.e. St. Patrick Grammar School, Gbongan and after crosschecking the result sheet for the collation EC 8C to confirm the information, called her staff Mutiu Salawu, to remove the pasted EC 80 (E) poster with error and replace with correct one.
"Mr Mutiu Salawu, being a dutiful staffer, went to carry out the lawful instruction of his boss when he was accosted by a mob that manhandled him."
The statement went ahead to give an extended breakdown of the results, which noted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 9,836 votes instead of the mistakenly-recorded 10,836 votes.
The commission also expressed its displeasure with the press for the "repeated broadcast of the event maliciously without proper investigation".