Ekiti gov’ship poll was free, fair, credible — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has told the Ekiti State Election Petition Tribunal that the June 18, 2022, governorship election conducted in the state was free, fair, credible and in line with global best practices.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr Adeniran Tella, said the commission’s officials who officiated in the election complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act and Election Guidelines in the conduct of the poll.

Tella, who was represented by the Deputy Director and Head of Operations, Ekiti INEC office, Mr Temitope Oluwaseun Aina, also said that the commission was not aware of any incident of vote buying as alleged by the petitioners, adding there was no inflation of figures in any of the units where the election was conducted.

The INEC boss, who was summoned to give evidence at the tribunal while under cross-examination by counsel to respondents, further affirmed that the total number of votes cast and collated by the electoral umpire corresponded with the number of voters accredited.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Chief Segun Oni, and his party are before the tribunal challenging the result declared by INEC which returned Mr Biodun Oyebanji, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election