Concerns Raised Over BVAS Issues in Ekiti Governorship Election

Election observers watching the ongoing Ekiti State governorship election have raised issues about some polling units. They reported that elderly voters faced difficulties during accreditation. There were also concerns about how political party agents behaved at these units.

Vaneza Gregory, the Programme Lead of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund, spoke on News Central about what they saw during the election. She said the number of women voting was encouraging.

She noted that women make up about 51 percent of registered voters in the state. This number seems to be reflected in the voter turnout seen across polling units. Ms Gregory explained that their organization tracks gender-related indicators through an election situation room. They analyze data broken down by gender from polling units.

"One of the encouraging observations is that the data provided for gender disaggregation at polling units aligns with the statistics showing that women constitute about 51 percent of registered voters," she said.

But she also expressed worry about reports that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was not recognizing some elderly voters during accreditation. She urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to find other ways to verify elderly voters who have trouble with the technology. This is to make sure they do not lose their chance to vote.

"There is a need to create an alternative means to capture eligible elderly voters who are not recognized by BVAS so that they will not be disenfranchised. This is something we want to call on INEC to address to ensure that vulnerable groups are not excluded from the process," she said.

Asabe Ndahi, a Project Manager at The Kukah Centre (TKC), also spoke up. She claimed that some party agents were giving out alcohol around polling units. She said the reasons behind this action were unclear. Still, she noted that such activities could hurt the integrity of the electoral process.

Ms Ndahi also raised concerns about the presence of many security personnel in polling areas. "We have observed security officers moving around in large numbers, and that could be intimidating to voters. Security personnel are already stationed at polling centres, so I do not think such movements are necessary," she said.

Meanwhile, Ajibola Adepoju, the National President of the Victory Advocate of Nigeria, praised the conduct of the election so far. Mr Adepoju did point out that INEC's voter register still seemed to include names of deceased people. He said this issue needs to be fixed to improve the credibility of future elections.

Earlier, PREMIUM TIMES reported on claims of vote buying and the distribution of incentives to voters in some areas of the state.