The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the upload of polling unit results from the Ekiti governorship election to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV) more than two hours after the close of voting.
The electoral commission began uploading results at about
4:10pm on Saturday after concerns were raised over the absence of polling unit
results on the portal despite the completion of voting and counting in some
locations.
Before the uploads commenced, photographs of polling unit
result sheets had already begun circulating online and among election
observers, political parties, and voters.
The delay in publishing results on IReV came after concerns
raised earlier by Yiaga Africa over inconsistencies in election materials
deployed for the exercise.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Aisha Abdullahi, chair of
Yiaga Africa’s 2026 Ekiti election observation mission, and Samson Itodo,
executive director of the organisation, said discrepancies existed between
ballot papers, result sheets, and the final list of candidates published by
INEC.
“Specifically, the Form EC8A polling-unit result sheets
provide spaces for 15 political parties; the ballot papers in circulation carry
19 parties; while INEC’s final list of candidates, as updated and available on
the INEC website as of 18th June 2026, reflects 14 parties that fielded
candidates,” the statement reads.
“Yiaga Africa recognizes the context. After INEC published
its initial list of 12 candidates in January 2026, subsequent court rulings
(notably on the PDP’s candidacy) and late administrative changes altered party
and candidate participation.
“Some of those changes do not appear to have been fully and
consistently reflected across all election materials. Also, the public may not
have fully received information about these changes. These inconsistencies
might create confusion during voting and collation.
“Where result sheets include parties that are not on the
ballot, presiding officers may record zero votes for parties that voters did
not see.
“Conversely, where voters cast ballots for parties not
reflected on the result sheet, such actions could create uncertainty in
recording, reconciliation, and collation.”
Yiaga Africa called on INEC to publicly clarify the final
list of participating parties and candidates and explain the differences
observed across election materials.
The organisation also urged the commission to issue clear
written instructions to presiding and collation officers on completing result
sheets in line with electoral laws and court decisions.
Earlier in the day, voting was slowed in several polling
units due to challenges with the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS),
particularly during the accreditation of elderly voters.
At Polling Unit 007 in Ado ‘J’ Okesa, a 90-year-old woman
was unable to complete biometric verification after the device repeatedly
failed to capture her fingerprints and facial image.
Similar incidents were reported in other polling units
across the state.
At Ugele/Arokun ward 006 in Ikere LGA, only three voters had
been accredited as of 8:30am due to BVAS-related difficulties.
Mercy Omeiza, presiding officer at Polling Unit 13, ward 20,
Iyin 1, Iyin-Ekiti, said election officials repeatedly encountered challenges
while accrediting elderly voters.
“The BVAS is not capturing most of the old people. We asked
them to wait and sit while we keep trying and trying,” she said.
“I heard other polling units around are also facing the same
challenge.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com