The Imole Campaign Council (TICC) says it has received multiple complaints about the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in several polling units across Osun state during Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
Pelumi Olajengbesi, spokesman for the organisation, made the allegation in a statement, saying many of the local government areas where BVAS malfunctioned are “strongholds” of Ademola Adeleke, Osun governor and candidate of Accord.
“In fact, at the governor’s polling unit, Unit 009, Ward 02, Agbogunde Sagba, in Ede North LGA, BVAS machines have either malfunctioned or have been annoyingly slow, frustrating voters who stood in the queue for hours under the scorching sun,” the statement reads.
“The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) Situation Room, an independent civil society organisation, confirmed BVAS failures at polling units in local government areas such as Egbedore, Ife Central, Ilesa West, Ifedayo, Ifelodun, Oriade and Ilesa East.
“The situation is deeply concerning as some BVAS machines could not capture the faces of most elderly voters at the polling units, forcing them to leave the queue after hours of standing.”
The group called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately rectify the anomalies before the end of voting.
It said anything short of this would amount to an “automatic disenfranchisement, which is not acceptable and a slap on democracy”.
