By Ghazali Ibrahim
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the ongoing Ekiti State governorship election, Dr. Wole Oluyede, has expressed dissatisfaction with the voting process, citing persistent malfunction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at his polling unit.
Oluyede spoke shortly after casting his vote at Unit 6, Ward 3, Osagburu Family Hall, where he said the accreditation process was slow due to technical issues with the BVAS device.
According to reports, only six voters had been accredited since voting commenced at about 8:30 a.m., as officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) worked to address the challenges with the machine.
Reacting to the situation, the PDP candidate described the process as unacceptable.
“The electoral process is nonsense. A lot of my people are yet to vote because the BVAS is not functioning properly,” Oluyede said.
He noted that the malfunction was not the first time such an issue had occurred at his polling unit and vowed to report the matter to the appropriate authorities.
“I am not happy with the current electoral process. This is not the first time that the machine is being faulty at my polling unit. I am going to make adequate reports of these irregularities to the appropriate authority,” he stated.
Oluyede also called on INEC to improve transparency in the conduct of elections and ensure that all eligible voters are able to exercise their civic rights without hindrance.
The PDP candidate further alleged that some of his supporters were being harassed by security personnel at different polling units across the state, describing the situation as undemocratic.
“Some of my followers are being harassed at the polling units by security agencies and no media is reporting the incident,” he claimed.
Despite casting his vote, Oluyede said he would remain at the polling area to monitor the process and ensure that his supporters were able to vote.
The Ekiti governorship election is currently underway across the state, with voters electing a new governor amid tight security and the deployment of electoral officials and materials by INEC.
