Over 40 elderly person who came out in large numbers at one of the largest polling units in Ikoro-Ekiti have been disenfranchised by the failure of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, BVAS at the Ekiti State Governorship election on Saturday.
Those largely affected by the poor performance of the BVAS were senior citizens who were registered as voters by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in 2010.
Unhappy and disappointed by the failure of BVAS to identify over 40 senior citizens between age 68 to 86 years raised serious concern for the voters at Ikoro-Ekiti in Ekiti State, South-West Nigeria.
After spending more than seven hours at the polling unit, the elderly who refused to talk to ait.live left the for their homes dejected and frustrated as heated argument ensued between the electoral officials and some the voters.
The INEC officer who preferred to remain anonymous said the BVAS failed to identify them due to their aging faces after 12 years of registration as some voters urged the electoral body to wade into the matter before the next election.
Others who misplaced their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs were unhappy that they could not participate in the election.
94-year old Olaluwoye Akinbanji who have been ill for the past three years came from his sick bed to vote for the Governorship candidate of his choice in Efon-Alaiye.
In many polling units visited at Efon Alaiye, Okemesi and Ikoro-Ekiti, the voters commended INEC for tackling the issue of late arrival of electoral materials and improvement in the performance of BVAS.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
