E-Voting, E-Crisis at MAPOLY

Amid expectations, students went to the poll to elect their leaders. But, it all ended in stalemate when a row broke out in the middle of the process. Winners could not be declared.

Nothing was expected to go wrong with the exercise because it was conducted through e-voting.  But the Students’ Union Government (SUG) election of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, ended in stalemate following allegations of irregularities. FESTUS OGUN reports.

IT is known as e-voting and it is believed to be the panacea for rigging. It has worked elsewhere, including some higher institutions. But, last Friday, it failed at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during the Students’ Union Government (SUG) election.

Amid expectations, students went to the poll to elect their leaders. But, it all ended  in stalemate when a row broke out in the middle of the process. Winners could not be declared.

The Students’ Union Electoral Committee (SUELECO) Chairman, Oluwadoyinsola Olaibi, who attempted to announce the results, was pelted with stones when he could not give the number of accredited voters.

Before the exercise conducted at the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Resources Centre, the electoral committee unveiled the guidelines. It said the number of accredited voters would be released before the election. But it failed to do so, fuelling students’suspicion about its transparency.



An accredited student, he said, would be issued a six-digit pin number that would enable him to log on to the ICT Centre’s database to vote.

As the election progressed, students demanded the disclosure of number of accredited voters. In response, CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the Acting Director of Students’ Affairs (DSA), Akin Ajayi, stormed the ICT Centre at about 3pm to stop the voting. This sparked a protest.

As the demonstration was going on, the school’s Chief Security Officer, Adekunle Adekoya, allegedly slapped Halimot Yekinni, a female student of Mass Communication Department, who wanted to vote.

Students defied Ajayi’s order and trooped to the ICT building to vote. The long queue of students waiting to vote did not reduce, despite the Acting DSA’s directive terminating the process.

The action of Department of State Services (DSS) operatives deployed to maintain security during the election was said to have aggravated the situation. A student was allegedly manhandled by the operatives and the phone of another was seized. The protesters marched on some offices on the campus.

The Acting DSA, it was learnt, accused Ogun State chapter of the National Association Nigerian Students (NANS) officials of instigating the protest. Security agents sent  NANS Chairman, Olawale Balogun, who led a delegation to monitor the election, out of the campus. More students joined the protest in solidarity with the NANS officials.

As the protesters moved round the campus, the electoral committee members, Ajayi, Students’ Affairs Officer Ayobami Oderinde and the school counsellor, Dr Rotimi Olukoya, gathered at a location close to the ICT building at 4pm to announce the results in the presence of security agents, comprising the DSS, Observation Post Corps Services (OPCS) and Man O’ War.



The students were unsatisfied with results of four of the 10 offices contested for anounced by Olaibi. They pelted him with stones and other weapons. The security operatives hurriedly surrounded Olaibi and took him away.

Ajayi stopped the announcement and directed other SUELECO members to return to the ICT Centre.

Two hours later, Olaibi and other members of the committee came out of the ICT building to announce more results. The school’s Public Relations Executive, Sulaimon Adebiyi, was invited to pacify the students.

Student Representatives’Council (SRC) Deputy Clerk Jamiu Ogunbamowo asked for total number of accredited voters before any results could be released.This, Jamiu said, was the only way to pacify students.

Without doing that, Olaibi went ahead to announce results for the remaining six offices. Students became more agitated and disrupted the announcement. They said they would not accept the results, if the total number of registered and accredited voters was not declared.

Olaibi spirited back into the ICT building before he could anounce all the results.

CAMPUSLIFE gathered that Olaibi was  told not to give the number of accredited voters and pins issued to the students. This, it was gathered, was to save time, because the exercise started behind schedule.

While addressing students, Ajayi said: “The election started behind schedule. As far as we are concerned, the results needed to be announced on time. But, protesters prevented the announcement of results when they started hurling stones at members of the electoral committee.

“We have the responsibility to save the lives of SUELECO members. We will need to complete the announcement of results at a later date. If anybody decides to stone us, then everybody will go home and we will paste the results on all notice boards, where we can all go and check them there. Members of the electoral committee are students too. We cannot stand there and watch them being stoned.”

The undeclared results showed that the three presidential contenders – Babatunde Adegoke, Olusola Kosoko and Ahmed Fakunmoju – garnered 705, 532 and 104 votes.

Contenders for Vice President, Daniel Obanla and Sulaimon Adeyemi, had 721 and 598 votes; Qudus Rahman and Tijani Mustapha, who contested for General Secretary, polled 794 and 515.

The results for other positions were declared, but CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the total votes cast were more than the number of pins issued to the students. It was also gathered that the pins were more than the accredited voters.

Olukoya said he released the number of votes cast, adding that they were more than the number of accredited voters.

A document obtained from a SUELECO member who did not want his name mentioned, indicated that 1,298 voters were accredited, while 1,318 pins were issued to the students.

Contacted on telephone, Olaibi admitted that there were discrepancies in the number of accredited voters and the number of pins. He said: “It was after the election that we discovered that the number of pins issued out were more than the number of accredited voters. Some people may have received multiple pins for voting.”



But, the results showed that 1,341 votes were cast for the president, while 1,319 were cast for the vice president. These figures did not tally with those contained in the SUELECO document obtained by CAMPUSLIFE, indicating that the process might have been fraught with inconsistencies.

It was gathered that further announcement of results was suspended at Olukoya’s instance.

The committee declined to comment on the next step.

The students described the process as subversive and fraudulent, accusing management of attempting to undermine the process to pave the way for the emergence of its favoured candidates. They vowed to reject the institution’s plan  to foist its candidates on them.