Osun Election: PDP witness asks tribunal to cancel ballots where over voting is established

A PDP witness on Wednesday asked the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja to cancel votes where there were established cases of over voting in the September 2018 poll.
The witness, Bamidele Adeleke, who was the state collation agent for the Peoples Democratic Party during the contentious election, said this while testifying before the tribunal.
The petition was filed by the PDP and its candidate in the election, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
The petitioners are challenging the declaration of Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress as winner of the September 22 and 27, 2018 elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
They alleged that the election was marred with massive rigging, over voting, vote buying and other forms of malpractices and that the polls was not conducted by INEC in compliance with the law.
Joined as respondents in the petition are INEC, Governor Oyetola and APC.
Asked by counsel for Oyetola, Adebayo Akinlade (SAN), what he wanted the tribunal to do with instances where there were over voting in some polling units in Ede North and Ede South Local Government Areas, the witness stated that the party was very clear on the issue.
He said: “Once you can establish the case of over voting, the rule is very clear on this. Votes of those units are cancelled.”
He told the tribunal that there were errors on some of the Forms EC8A (result sheets) tendered in exhibit before the tribunal when asked to read the numbers of accredited voters and total number of valid votes recorded on them.
While being cross examined by INEC counsel, Agbede Adesina, the petitioners’ witness said that he did not vote in the September 22 election as “I was playing my role as the state party agent”.
Adeleke said that INEC conducted sensitization for all agents ahead of the election in the state, adding that as an adult of over 40 years of age, he knew the processes of voting having participated in some elections before.
He told the tribunal that it was not the duty of presiding officials at polling units to announce the number of accredited voters recorded.
Answering question by counsel for APC, Lasun Sanusi (SAN), the witness said that part of the reasons INEC gave for the September 27 rerun election were that there was over voting in one unit and there was no voting at Unit 17, Ward 5 of Osogbo LGA.
He said that he was aware that PDP participated in the rerun election, adding that the total number of registered voters in the seven polling units where the rerun took place was 3,598, saying, “that was what INEC recorded”.
Meanwhile, the tribunal has adjourned its sitting until Thursday January 17 for continuation of hearing.