The Collation Officer in the Presidential and National Assembly elections in Ondo State, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, has taken responsibility for the mix-up which took place while announcing the results, attributing it to discrepancy.
The Prof said, the discrepancy arose between the manually produced report which was in his possession and the electronic version which was being projected on the screen.
There was drama on Monday evening at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, when Soremekun, International Relations scholar and Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, found it difficult to match figures of results that have been declared.
Sequel to giving wrong figures, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, ordered that he should tidy up the results and come back for representation after the use of ruler was not useful.
But Soremekun, former Head, Department of International Relations at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, told Punch in Abuja that he would not blame anybody for such errors.
He said, “I think there was a discrepancy between the manually produced report which was in my possession and the electronic version which was being projected on the screen. As I read, the audience was able to see this contradiction and of course, they reacted, and they are right to have reacted.
“When this happened once and twice, we had to then go back to, as it were, retool. This retooling process took the form of robust interaction with relevant INEC staff. We then discovered that there was a transposition in the sense that there was a mix-up.
“The figures for one political party were given to the other, but in the context of the interaction with INEC staff, this transposition was corrected. By the time we corrected it, we were then able to, more or less get out of the situation.
I don’t want to blame anybody for this, so to that extent, I take responsibility.”
When asked if he does not believe that Nigerians are unnecessarily too critical, Soremekun said the questions they raised were an integral part of the nation’s democratic experience.
He said, “I don’t want to generalise because generalisations, by their very nature, are dangerous. I see it more as a questioning spirit on the part of Nigerians, the questions they raised is an integral part of our democratic experience.
“I can only say that individuals, including myself, should be less finicky and fastidious about certain things. I’ve said, I take responsibility and that says it all and captures the entire situation.”