The Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr Olusegun Agbaje has said political thugs should be blamed for the inconclusive governorship election in the state.
He said this at the post election review activities held at the INEC headquarters in Osogbo, the state capital.
Speaking further, Agbaje said “we declared the last governorship election in Osun State inconclusive because the margin between the two leading candidates was less that the number of the voters who were yet to cast their votes.”
“Blame political thugs for that inconclusive election in Osun. They disrupted the election. People should not blame INEC for that inconclusive election.”
He lamented the way violence was unleashed by political thugs in some areas during the election, stressing that some armed hoodlums chased away election officials and disallowed poll from taking place in some areas.
“They should blame the thugs. They didn’t allow people to vote in the affected area. That was why we could not conclude the election in the first exercise and forced us to declare the election inconclusive.”
Agbaje said the retreat was aimed at reviewing the last elections and plan ahead for the future elections.
The facilitator for the retreat, Mr Tunde Ojedokun said the review will assist the commission to identity flaws and make necessary adjustment, going forward.
INEC National Commissioner, Solomon Soyebi, while speaking at the event, noted that Osun achieved almost 100 percent success in the last elections.
He commended INEC staff and all the stakeholders in the exercise for the excellent job and charged them to sustain it.
