Residents of Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State capital on Saturday, 20 June, 2026 trooped out early to participate in the governorship election.
The election features candidates from multiple political parties, including: incumbent Biodun Oyebanji, APC; Oluwole Oluyede, PDP; Oluwadare Bejide, ADC; Opeyemi Falegan, Accord Party; Oyebanji Olajuyin, Labour Party; Blessing Abegunde, NNPP; Bidemi Awogbemi, APP; and Ayodeji Ojo, ADP.
Others are: Samuel Akande, AAC; Olaniyi Ayodele, PRP; Victor Adetunji, Zenith Labour Party; Olu Omotoso, Action Alliance; Joseph Anifowose, Allied Peoples Movement; and Ayodele Osinkolu, Young Progressive Party.
It was gathered that there was an impressive turnout of voters at most polling units in the state capital.
It was gathered that despite a brief delay caused by a malfunctioning Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), people still came out to perform their duties.
At Ward 4, Units 1 and 2, located at Saint Michael Primary School, Ijigbo, many voters, including elderly residents, were already on the ground ahead of the scheduled commencement of voting at 8:30 a.m., reflecting enthusiasm for the electoral exercise.
However, voting had yet to begin as of 8:45 a.m. after the BVAS deployed to the polling units failed to function upon arrival of election officials.
The Presiding Officer, Mutiat Aliyu, confirmed the temporary hitch, saying, “It initially did not come up, but it is working now.”
The glitch was eventually rectified, and the first voter at Unit 2 cast his ballot at exactly 8:49 a.m., paving the way for accreditation and voting to proceed.
Source: The Punch online
