Former presidential aide and ex-lawmaker, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, on Saturday expressed concern over the slow pace of accreditation and voting in the ongoing Ekiti State governorship election, blaming the delays on the malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Ojudu, who voted at his polling unit in Ereguru, Ward 8, Ado-Ekiti, described the turnout of voters as impressive but warned that technical glitches associated with the BVAS machine could discourage participation if not urgently addressed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Speaking with journalists shortly after casting his ballot, the former senator commended the peaceful conduct of voters, particularly the elderly who had turned out in large numbers, but lamented that the accreditation process was unnecessarily cumbersome.

According to him, it took nearly 30 minutes for election officials to successfully capture his fingerprints and photograph before he was accredited to vote.

“The turnout is impressive and the people have come out en masse to exercise their civic responsibility. They are peaceful and orderly, as expected. However, the process is cumbersome,” he said.

“Before my fingerprints and photograph could be captured, it took almost 30 minutes. If it takes 30 minutes to accredit one voter, then one begins to wonder how many hours it will take for 500 people to vote.”

Ojudu disclosed that as of about 8:59 a.m., he remained the only voter who had successfully cast his ballot at the polling unit despite the presence of many waiting voters.

He attributed the delay to what he described as the malfunctioning of the BVAS machine and expressed fears that the situation could lead to voter apathy if not resolved promptly.

“There is clearly a problem with the system. The BVAS is malfunctioning. I don’t know what is happening in other polling units, but I am reporting directly from my polling unit. We have been here since around 8 a.m., and as of now, I am the only person who has voted. This is not good enough,” he stated.