Ekiti Decides 2026: Oyebanji Wins Re-Election as INEC Overcomes Early BVAS Hitches
Oru Leonard
ADO-EKITI – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has declared incumbent Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election, following the conclusion of voting and collation across the state’s 16 local government areas.
The declaration came on Sunday after the completion of the electoral process that began with extensive preparations by INEC and culminated in Saturday’s poll.
Prior to the election, Ekiti Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi, had assured voters and stakeholders that the commission was fully prepared to conduct a free, fair and credible election. He disclosed that non-sensitive and sensitive materials had been distributed, ad hoc staff deployed, and security arrangements concluded in collaboration with relevant agencies.
The REC also warned against the dangers of fake news and misinformation, describing them as major threats capable of discouraging voter participation and undermining confidence in the electoral process.
Election activities commenced smoothly in several parts of the state on Saturday. At Polling Unit 30 located at the AB Event Centre along Adebayo Road in Ado-Ekiti, voters began arriving early, while election officials briefed voters and party agents in both English and Yoruba. Voting officially commenced at 8:30 a.m. at the polling unit, which had 735 registered voters.
However, reports from Polling Unit 018, situated in front of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, indicated that technical glitches involving the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) slowed the accreditation process.
The polling unit, with 884 registered voters, opened on schedule, but intermittent BVAS failures caused delays and led to long queues of voters waiting to be accredited.
Some voters expressed frustration over the delays but remained determined to exercise their civic rights.
“I arrived here before 8 a.m. and expected the process to be fast. The BVAS has been failing repeatedly, but I will remain until I vote because this election is important,” one voter said.
Another voter noted that although the delays were inconvenient, electoral officials were making efforts to address the technical issues.
Despite the challenges, voting continued across the state as election officials worked to restore the affected devices and ensure that eligible voters were accredited and allowed to cast their ballots.
At the end of the exercise, INEC’s Chief Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, announced that Governor Oyebanji of the APC secured 319,224 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), candidate, Wole Oluyede, who polled 40,543 votes, of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ambassador Oluwadare Patrick Bejide polled 12,872 votes.
According to the results released by INEC, the election recorded 384,949 accredited voters, while 382,109 votes were cast. A total of 6,332 votes were rejected.
Prof. Oladiji subsequently declared Oyebanji duly elected, having satisfied the constitutional requirements and secured the highest number of valid votes cast in the election.
The election was conducted across the state’s 2,445 polling units, with more than one million registered voters eligible to participate in the exercise.
Observers noted that despite isolated technical challenges, the poll was largely peaceful, with security agencies maintaining their presence throughout the exercise. The election also witnessed orderly conduct by political parties and voters, reflecting the extensive preparations undertaken by INEC and other stakeholders ahead of the poll.
