- Safiu Kehinde
The operation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System at the ongoing 2026 Ekiti State Governorship have largely been a subjected of frustration and lamentation by several voters across the state.
While the election had so far recorded large voters’ turnout with early arrival of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, the malfunction of the BVAS machine however stalled the conduct of the election.
NPO Reported that the development had drawn condemnation from former Presidential aide, Babafemi Ojudu, who decried failure of the BVAS machine to capture his details.
Ojudu, in a post shared on his official Facebook page on Saturday, alleged spending over 30 minutes to cast his vote despite being the first person to arrive at his polling unit.
Also faulting the machine operation was the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate, Oluwole Oluyede, who slammed INEC over what he labelled ‘useless’ conduct of the election.
Oluyede claimed that several elderly voters have been unable to vote as the BVAS machine failed to capture their details.
Similar development was reported across several polling units with elderly voters unable to vote over the BVAS machine failure to accredit them.
Some of the elderly voters in Ikere-Ekiti also expressed their disappointment over the BVAS machine malfunction.
“The BVAS has been disappointing.
“At times will switch on, sometimes it will be slow.” One of the elderly voters said.
Another elderly man at the polling unit disclosed that only about six people have been able to vote due to the machine malfunction.
“When about 60 to 80 people are supposed to have voted, only about six people have been attended to due to the machine.” The voter said.