Students of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) have raised serious concerns over the conduct of the recent Student Union Government (SUG) election, alleging that the university administration manipulated the process to benefit certain candidates.
The election, which took place on May 24, 2025, has since sparked widespread dissatisfaction among students, many of whom claim that procedural guidelines were ignored and technical issues were exploited to alter the outcome.
Speaking with journalists, a student named Ajayi criticised the handling of the election, stating that the process was riddled with delays and unexplained changes.
“The voting was supposed to run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but it didn’t begin until after noon due to technical setbacks,” Ajayi said.
“Our candidate was in the lead by evening, but the school suddenly extended the voting period multiple times without informing students. By 6 p.m., we couldn’t even access the results page, which started showing ‘Error 504’.”
Ajayi also alleged that attempts to bypass the glitch using VPNs were unsuccessful, adding that the extensions violated the original six-hour voting guideline.
Another student, Ola, echoed these concerns and accused the school’s ICT department and management of interference.
“At first, voting required an OTP, but when we started gaining the upper hand, that requirement was suddenly removed,” he claimed.
“The manipulation wasn’t limited to the presidential race. It affected various positions across the board. We just want a rerun where the rules are respected.”
A third student, Remi, said the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences was particularly affected and suggested that last-minute changes were used to swing the final results.
“This isn’t the first time the university has been accused of bias in student elections,” he said.
“Voting began late, and the deadline kept shifting. Just before the supposed close of polls at 6 p.m., another extension was granted without any formal communication. At 5:55 p.m., the OTP was removed, and then the portal went down.”
According to Remi, the leading candidate, Olaleye Temitope Oluwagbemiga, was ahead by 13 votes before the final outage.
“Suddenly, the system came back online and his opponent was declared winner by 19 votes. It just doesn’t add up,” he added.
In reaction, the Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Wasiu Oyedoku-Ali, denied the allegations, describing them as unfounded.
He confirmed that technical issues occurred but said necessary consultations were made before any decisions were taken.
“These claims are not accurate,” the dean said.
“For the first time in a while, the acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olubunmi Shittu, introduced new layers of transparency. Beyond the ICT Director’s involvement, other stakeholders, including the ASUU chairman, were brought in to monitor the election.”
He explained that while the OTP requirement was initially enforced to secure the voting process, it was eventually dropped after discussions with representatives of all candidates.
“There was a meeting with 29 stakeholders present. Only three disagreed with suspending the OTP. The change was made in response to students’ complaints, not to manipulate the vote,” he said.
Despite the university’s position, students are demanding a fresh poll, citing a lack of trust in the credibility of the concluded election.
Leave a Reply