Distraught students of the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, have accused the university management of manipulating the recently held Student Union Government elections to favour its preferred candidates.

In separate interviews with PUNCH Metro on Monday and Tuesday, students alleged that the university management compromised the integrity of the May 24, 2025, elections to secure victory for loyalists and surrogates.

A student identified as Ajayi claimed that electoral guidelines set by the committees were blatantly disregarded to skew the results.

?There was favouritism and injustice in the election. The election was supposed to start at 9:00am and end by 3:00pm, but it was delayed until 12:30 pm due to technical issues.

?By 5:00 p.m., when our presidential candidate was leading, they announced an extension without any explanation. Then, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm, they extended it again.

?At that point, we couldn?t even monitor the results anymore. The page was showing ?Error 504?.

?We tried using VPNs, but nothing worked. Even with their illegal extension, the election should have ended by 6:00 p.m.,? he said.

Another student, identified only as Ola, echoed Ajayi?s claims and accused the university?s ICT team and management of colluding to influence results across various offices, not just the presidential race.

He said, ?They manipulated the elections. It wasn?t just the presidency that was rigged. The ICT crew and the school management were behind it.

?They extended the election beyond the six-hour limit stated in the guidelines. At first, voting required an OTP, but when it became clear we were winning, they suddenly removed that requirement.?

He begged for a ?rerun of the election and to follow their own rules to the letter.?

Another student, who identified himself as Remi, accused the University of marginalising the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences and manipulating the vote count at the last minute.

He said, ?This Isn?t the first time the management has rigged elections to favour their chosen candidates.

?The election was officially scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., but it didn?t begin until noon due to so-called technical glitches.

?Just before the extended closing time of 6:00 p.m., the Electoral Committee again extended voting by another hour, with no formal communication to students.?

He further explained how the one-time password system caused major disruptions.

?The OTPs weren?t being delivered. About 10 of us went to the situation room in Ado to report it, and they promised to fix it.

?We even suggested removing the OTP, but the CSO insisted the rules couldn?t change mid-election.

?Eventually, they extended voting till 6:00 p.m., and by that time, Olaleye Temitope Oluwagbemiga was leading.

?Then, around 5:55 p.m., they suddenly removed the OTP requirement and shut down the portal. By 7:00 p.m., Olaleye was still ahead by about 13 votes.

?But just two minutes later, the portal failed, and suddenly they announced that his opponent had won by 19 votes. We?re left wondering how that happened.?

However, the Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Wasiu Oyedoku-Ali, in an interview with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, dismissed the students? allegations as unfounded.

Oyedoku-Ali acknowledged that there were some technical issues during the election but insisted that all necessary stakeholders were consulted before changes, such as the suspension of the OTP, were implemented.

?These allegations are far from the truth. For the first time in recent years, the acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olubunmi Shittu, ensured that no one tampered with the election results.

?In addition to the ICT Director who normally oversees the e-voting, the acting VC introduced additional checks to safeguard the process,? he noted.

Oyedoku-Ali also mentioned that the university involved the ASUU chairman and created a monitoring team for the elections.

?There were indeed technical glitches because many students tried to vote simultaneously, which caused vote processing delays.

?At first, the VC insisted that the OTP should not be dropped to prevent unauthorised access to student details.

?However, due to mounting protests, a meeting was convened with the agents of all candidates and key stakeholders.

?Out of the 29 attendees, only three opposed suspending the OTP,? he explained. (The PUNCH)

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