Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has expressed displeasure over reported malfunctions of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and allegations of voter intimidation recorded at some polling units as voting continued in Saturday’s governorship election. 

The governor, who had earlier voted at his polling unit in Ede North Local Government Area, spoke again later in the day, this time raising concerns over the pace and conduct of the exercise in parts of the state.

Adeleke specifically alleged that a police officer identified only as “London,” reportedly drafted in from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had been deployed to cause unrest and disrupt proceedings, and he called on the Inspector-General of Police and other security agencies to investigate the claim.

The governor also alleged that some officials were deliberately bypassing the standard collation procedure of moving results from the unit level through the ward and then to the local government, describing the development as troubling.

His comments echo concerns raised elsewhere in the state on election day, with Deputy Governor Kola Adewusi separately lamenting BVAS malfunctions at his own polling unit in Ile-Ife and appealing to INEC to deploy backup machines to prevent further delays, while voting at a unit in Ede North was held up for a period after a similar technical fault.

The Adeleke campaign, under its Imole Campaign Council, had in the lead-up to the election repeatedly accused the police of intimidating and detaining its supporters and members, allegations the police have denied, even as it separately raised alarm over claims that BVAS machines may have been preloaded to favour a predetermined outcome.

INEC has yet to respond directly to the governor’s latest comments, though the commission has maintained that backup devices and materials have been arranged to address isolated technical disruptions as voting proceeds across the state’s 30 local government areas.

Photo Credit: Punch Newspaper