INEC has uploaded nearly 87 percent of results from Ekiti's governorship election onto its official portal. So far, 2,128 of 2,445 polling units have submitted their tallies for public viewing.
All polling stations across the state opened for voting on schedule Wednesday morning. Election officials said the process remained largely peaceful and orderly throughout the day.
Voting concluded at 2:30pm as planned, according to INEC's statement posted on X. The commission noted that 2,257 polling units, or 92.31 percent, began operations before 8:30am.
Some 188 polling units experienced minor delays opening their doors. These locations, representing 7.69 percent of total units, still commenced voting before 10:30am.
Voter accreditation ran into technical snags at several locations across the state. Officials blame glitches in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System for the problems during biometric capture.
Elderly voters faced particular frustration as the device malfunctioned repeatedly. Long queues formed at affected polling units as frustrated citizens waited to be processed.
Before voting even began, Yiaga Africa flagged serious concerns about election materials. The observer group said discrepancies exist between ballot papers, result sheets, and candidate lists.
Form EC8A result sheets provided spaces for 15 parties, Yiaga noted. Yet 19 parties appeared on ballots distributed to polling units statewide.
INEC's official candidate list shows only 14 parties actually fielded nominees. This mismatch between materials could create chaos during voting and result tallying.
Dr. Aisha Abdullahi chairs Yiaga's election observation mission for Ekiti.
She and Executive Director Samson Itodo jointly raised the alarm about the inconsistencies.
The issues stem from court rulings and late administrative changes, Yiaga explained. Initial candidate lists from January shifted after subsequent legal decisions altered party participation.
INEC apparently failed to update all election materials to reflect these changes. Voters may not have received clear information about the modifications either.
Such confusion could trigger serious problems during result collation, Yiaga warned. Presiding officers might record zero votes for parties absent from result sheets but present on ballots.
The reverse problem also looms large, according to the observer group. Voters casting ballots for unlisted parties could create uncertainty during vote reconciliation.
Yiaga Africa urged INEC to immediately clarify its final party and candidate list. The commission should publicly explain all differences between election materials without further delay.
Despite these concerns, Yiaga confirmed that 96 percent of its observers were stationed at sampled polling units. The group maintained a presence across 250 randomly selected locations throughout the state.
