Students at the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Ekiti State, have raised allegations of electoral manipulation following the recent Student Union Government (SUG) elections held on May 24, 2025.
According to multiple students, the university administration compromised the integrity of the election to favour specific candidates.
In interviews with PUNCH Metro on Monday and Tuesday, students claimed the electoral process was fraught with irregularities.
A student identified as Ajayi alleged that the university ignored established electoral guidelines, with the voting process starting hours later than scheduled due to technical issues.
He said the delays continued with multiple unannounced extensions that raised concerns among students.
“The election was meant to run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., but voting didn’t begin until 12:30 p.m.
Then it was extended repeatedly, even though our candidate was in the lead.
At one point, the election portal became inaccessible, displaying ‘Error 504,’ and attempts to access it using VPNs failed,” Ajayi said.
Another student, Ola, echoed the concerns, accusing the university’s ICT team of tampering with the results.
He said the initial requirement for voters to use one-time passwords (OTPs) was suddenly dropped without explanation, allegedly to shift the election’s outcome.
“When it became clear we were winning, they removed the OTP requirement. That allowed irregularities to creep in,” he claimed.
A third student, Remi, alleged that the university deliberately sidelined the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences and manipulated vote tallies just before the election ended. “This isn’t the first time the management has influenced the SUG elections.
They extended voting hours without notice, and at the last minute, changed the rules and shut down the portal,” he said.
Remi explained that even after a complaint was made about OTP delivery issues, the Chief Security Officer maintained that rules could not be changed mid-process. However, shortly before the polls closed, the OTP requirement was reportedly dropped.
“Olaleye Temitope Oluwagbemiga was leading by 13 votes before the portal crashed. Minutes later, his opponent was declared winner by 19 votes,” he said.
In response to the allegations, the Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Wasiu Oyedoku-Ali, denied any wrongdoing by the university.
He acknowledged there were technical issues due to high online traffic but maintained that the election process remained transparent and fair.
“These allegations are not true.
The acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olubunmi Shittu, ensured the integrity of the process. We had oversight from the ICT Director, the ASUU chairman, and a specially formed election monitoring team,” Oyedoku-Ali said.
He explained that while the OTP system was initially kept in place for security, it was later suspended after a meeting with stakeholders.
“A total of 29 people attended the meeting, and only three opposed removing the OTP.
The decision was made in good faith to allow more students to vote,” he added.
Despite the university’s assurances, many students continue to call for a rerun of the election, insisting that the results did not reflect the will of the student body.