Students of the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) have raised strong concerns over the recent Student Union Government elections, accusing the school management of tilting the process to favour its preferred candidates. Many students claim the election, held on May 24, 2025, was full of irregularities that robbed some candidates of their rightful win.
A student named Ajayi said the election started late and didn’t follow the official guidelines. “We were told voting would run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., but due to technical issues, it didn’t start until 12:30 p.m. Even after that, they kept extending it without giving reasons. By evening, the portal stopped working, and when we tried to monitor the results, all we saw was ‘Error 504’,” he said.
Another student, Ola, also pointed fingers at the university’s ICT team and management, alleging that they worked together to interfere with the results. He noted that key features like the OTP (One-Time Password), which was required for voting, were suddenly removed when their candidate was leading. “It wasn’t just about the presidency. Almost every office was affected,” he said.
A third student, Remi, said that despite multiple complaints about voting difficulties, nothing changed. “Many of us couldn’t vote because the OTPs weren’t sent. When we went to complain, they told us rules couldn’t be changed mid-election but later, they removed the OTP and shut down the portal. Our candidate was leading by 13 votes, yet somehow, his opponent won by 19. How does that add up?” he asked.
Responding to the backlash, the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Wasiu Oyedoku-Ali, dismissed the accusations. He said technical glitches were real but were handled with input from all parties involved. He stressed that the school added extra checks to keep the process fair, and any decision, including removing the OTP was based on group agreement during an emergency meeting with stakeholders.