Former presidential aide and ex-lawmaker, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, on Saturday, expressed concern over the slow pace of accreditation and voting in the ongoing Ekiti State governorship election, blaming the delays on the malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Ojudu, who voted at his polling unit in Ereguru, Ward 8, Ado-Ekiti local governmentarea of the State, described the turnout of voters as impressive but warned that technical glitches associated with the BVAS machine could discourage popular participation if not urgently addressed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Speaking with journalists shortly after casting his ballot, the former lawmaker commended the peaceful conduct of voters, particularly the elderly who had turned out in large numbers, but lamented that the accreditation process was unnecessarily cumbersome.
According to him, it took nearly 30 minutes for election officials to successfully capture his fingerprints and photograph before he was accredited to vote.
“The turnout is impressive and the people have come out en masse to exercise their civic responsibility. They are peaceful and orderly, as expected. However, the process is cumbersome,” he said.
“Before my fingerprints and photograph could be captured, it took almost 30 minutes. If it takes 30 minutes to accredit one voter, then one begins to wonder how many hours it will take for 500 people to vote.”
Ojudu disclosed that as of about 8:59 a.m., he remained the only voter who had successfully cast his ballot at the polling unit despite the presence of many waiting voters.
“There is clearly a problem with the system. The BVAS is malfunctioning. I don’t know what is happening in other polling units, but I am reporting directly from my polling unit. We have been here since around 8 a.m., and as of now, I am the only person who has voted. This is not good enough,” he stated.
The former presidential aide called on INEC to immediately deploy technical support to affected polling units and ensure that voting proceeds without further delays.
Ojudu argued that where the machines fail to function effectively, the electoral body should consider alternative measures to prevent the disenfranchisement of voters.
“My appeal to INEC is to urgently ensure that things are working. If the machines are not functioning properly, they should find a way to address the problem immediately. We cannot allow voters to be stranded because of equipment failure,” he urged.
Drawing a comparison with modern banking technology, Ojudu questioned why election technology could still experience such challenges despite years of preparation.
“Banks deploy applications and platforms that millions of people use daily for transactions with minimal issues. This technology has been around for years, so one wonders why equipment deployed for such a crucial national assignment is still failing to perform optimally,” he added.
“If it takes 30 minutes per voter, multiply that by 500 voters and people could still be here tomorrow waiting to vote. Many may become discouraged and leave without exercising their franchise. That would be unfortunate for our democracy,” he said.
He, therefore, urged INEC to intervene swiftly to restore public confidence and ensure that eligible voters are not denied the opportunity to participate in the election because of avoidable technical difficulties.
