VOTES RECOUNT AT OSUN TRIBUNAL
For over four hours on Friday, the second panel of the election petition tribunal sitting in Osogbo and headed by Justice Hamman Barka watched the recount of ballot papers used in the conduct of the House of Assembly election in one of the state constituencies.
The recount conducted in the open court by the Electoral Officer in charge of Egbedore Local Government, Mrs Oludoye Romoke saw glaring discrepancies in the votes recorded for political parties that participated in the election.
The electoral officer, who also doubled as the returning officer for the House of Assembly election was a witness of the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) in a petition instituted against the Action Congress candidate, Abiodun Awolola by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Okun Ibiremi.
The physical recount, which was at the instance of PDP’s counsel, Kunle Kalejaye, SAN while cross examining the INEC witness saw the AC scoring 97 votes at a polling unit located at Dada Estate Primary School instead of 206 votes recorded for that party while PDP’s votes showed 217 instead of 212 recorded in the result sheet.
In another unit located at Dada Estate Bus stop, the votes counted for the AC were 213 votes as against 437 votes recorded in the result sheet while PDP’s votes 252 instead of 249 votes recorded for it. The same trend was observed in the votes recorded at Osunbukola Unit where AC got 112 votes instead of 238 recorded for it in the statement of result while PDP polled 198 votes instead of 192 recorded for it.
At Okubanjo Printing Press Unit, the recount showed the AC getting 179 votes contrary to 206 votes recorded for it while the PDP polled 153 votes instead of 149 votes recorded in the result sheet.
Results of the recount of the votes cast at Isale Osun Ofatedo Polling unit showed the AC getting 152 votes as against 252 votes recorded for it while the PDP got 136 votes contrary to 131 votes recorded for it.
At St Georges Primary school unit, Ofatedo, the AC according to the recount, got 136 as against 336 votes recorded for that party while the PDP got 179 votes contrary to the recorded total votes of 176 in that unit.
The Action Congress got 161 votes at Oke Oja Ofatedo unit contrary to 248 votes recorded for it in form EC8A1 while PDP’s votes were 116 as recorded in the result sheet.
For the Akogun Area unit, the votes recount showed the AC having 134 votes as against 152 votes recorded for it while PDP’s actual votes were 154 as it was recorded in the result sheet.
The tribunal has adjourned the case till Wednesday 23rd January, 2008 for the conclusion of the recount of the votes in the remaining three units just as INEC gave a notice that it would close its case on that day.
The other parties in the matter had already called all their witnesses leaving only the INEC
