Drama played out at the collation centre for the Imo State governorship election on Saturday as the Returning Officer, Prof Abayomi Fashina, warned a Labour Party (LP) agent Calistus Ihejiagwa against comparing him with Prof Nnenna Oti.

While Fashina is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Oti is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri and served as the Returning Officer for the March 18 governorship poll in Abia State. Oti was hailed for bravery during the collation of the election result.

But at the collation of results in Owerri, the Imo State capital in the early hours of Sunday, Ihejiagwa asked Prof Abayomi to review the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) or view the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS). The agent argued that for the people of Imo State to get what they deserve, the electoral body needs to go on a seven-day break for a review of the results.

“I want to also add that if you are not comfortable with showing Nigerians the IReV’s backend server for them to verify this for both you and me, why won’t you call for the BVAS itself,” he said.

“We are not asking you to change the result, rather we asked you to do the necessary according to INEC guidelines for you to call for that seven-day break for review. Within those seven days, INEC will go back and check their records so that they can give Imo people what they deserve.”

Responding, the visibly angry Fashina insisted that he remains Fashina, a Professor of Pedology, and can’t be compared to Oti.

“Please don’t ever compare me with Nnenna Oti. We are not the same thing,” he warned.

“She is a vice chancellor, I am a vice-chancellor. Please don’t compare with me any other person. I remain and will continue to remain Fashina Abayomi Sunday, a well-recognised international professor of Pedology.”