Ogun tribunal: Two INEC staff claim thugs disrupted voting, burnt ballot papers

<p>Two ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday testified before the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital.</p>, <p>The duo, Ezeajaegbu Desmond, a former National Youth Service Corps member and Okitipki Mogbeyi, who were Presiding Officer and Assistant Presiding Officer respectively, testified that unknown thugs disrupted voting in their various polling units.</p>, <p>Desmond, who served at Polling Unit 0012, Ward 6, Makun Sagamu, said during cross-examination that thugs attacked his polling unit and set electoral materials on fire.</p>, <p>Desmond explained that his INEC reflective jacket was also burnt.</p>, <p>“I was able to escape with the BVAS machine only. We were trained to let go of materials if attacked,” he said.</p>, <p>According to the INEC ad hoc staff, about 50 persons had voted before the hoodlums stormed the polling station with weapons and eventually burnt all voting materials.</p>, <p>While cross-examining Desmond, counsel to INEC, Remi Olatubora, disowned him, saying he was never an INEC Presiding Officer.</p>, <p>According to the counsel, Desmond was supposed to contact INEC before appearing at the tribunal, even though the subpoena was addressed to him.</p>, <p>Olatubora described him as the first to testify against his client, saying: “You were never a Presiding Officer, you are an arranged witness, a procured witness, a suborn witness. You were paid to testify for PDP.”</p>, <p>Desmond, however, insisted that he was a Presiding Officer, tendering evidence of the money paid to him by the electoral umpire and denying having been paid by the PDP to be a witness at the tribunal.</p>, <p>Mogbeyi also told the tribunal that her polling unit was attacked by unknown political thugs, who disrupted voting.</p>, <p>She said she did not report the incident to the police because security agents also witnessed the invasion.</p>, <p>She denied being paid by PDP to testify, saying: “I honoured the subpoena because I didn’t want