Oluyede openly labeled the voting exercise as "nonsense" after experiencing firsthand delays with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device at his polling unit. The medical doctor-turned-politician arrived early at Unit 6, Ward 3, located at the Osagburu Family Hall, to cast his vote and rally his base.
However, the process ground to a near-halt due to structural configuration errors and network lags within the BVAS machine, severely crippling voter verification.
According to live field reports from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), despite the official commencement of voting at 8:30 a.m., technical failure meant that only six eager voters had been successfully accredited and permitted to drop their ballots into the boxes within the first few hours.
Flanked by anxious supporters and observing frantic INEC ad-hoc staff trying to reboot the struggling hardware, a visibly disgruntled Oluyede did not hold back his frustration when speaking with journalists on-site.
“The electoral process is nonsense," Oluyede asserted bluntly. "A lot of my people are yet to vote because the BVAS is not functioning properly. I am not happy with the current electoral process; this is not the first time that the machine is being faulty at my polling unit.
I am going to make adequate reports of these irregularities to the appropriate authority.” The PDP candidate implored the leadership of the electoral umpire to step up institutional transparency, warning that widespread machine breakdowns run counter to the promises of technological efficiency built into Nigeria's upgraded voting framework.
Beyond the technical failure of the BVAS infrastructure, Dr. Oluyede raised alarms over what he characterized as systemic, undemocratic interference by state security operators deployed across the state.
He alleged that security agencies were actively targeting and intimidating PDP voters to suppress turnout in key strongholds, while mainstream media organizations failed to document the hostile landscape.
Despite finally managing to overcome the system glitch to cast his own ballot, Oluyede refused to leave the polling center immediately.
The opposition candidate announced his intention to remain on the ground to act as a buffer for his base, ensuring his followers are not disenfranchised by either technology or external pressure.
As the high-stakes Ekiti election progresses into sorting and collation phases across its 16 Local Government Areas, the underperformance of the BVAS devices at crucial centers remains a flashpoint of contention between major opposition camps and the electoral body.
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