Voters at Polling Unit 018 in Ado-Ekiti remained orderly and determined to cast their ballots on Saturday despite delays caused by intermittent malfunction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during the Ekiti State governorship election.
The polling unit, located in the open space in front of the Federal Polytechnic, has a registered voter population of 884.
Accreditation and voting commenced at about 8:30 a.m. as electoral officials opened the process on schedule. However, by late morning, BVAS devices began to malfunction intermittently, slowing down the exercise and leading to long queues.
From the polling unit, Voice of Nigeria reports that “at about 11:45 a.m., many voters were still waiting patiently to be accredited as officials worked to restore the system.’
Some voters who spoke with our correspondent expressed frustration over the delays but said “they remained committed to voting.”
“I have been here since morning. It was moving well initially, but later the machine started having issues. It is frustrating, but we will wait,” a trader, Mrs. Folake Adeyemi said.
Another voter, Mr. Segun Adebayo, said “the situation would not discourage him from voting, adding that officials were working to resolve the challenge.”
Electoral officials appealed for patience and assured voters that efforts were ongoing to fix the technical issues and ensure a smooth process.
The situation remained peaceful, with security operatives maintaining order at the polling unit.
