OAU Holds Hall Elections Amidst Irregularities

The Hall Executives Council Elections of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, were held on Saturday the 28th of August 2021, across all eight undergraduate halls of residence on campus. The total turnout of voters in all the halls was decidedly low as most of the occupants now have an abode off-campus due to the virtual classes that were adopted during the harmattan semester as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only Angola and Mozambique Halls had positions that were keenly contested as normal.In spite of the low turnout of voters across all the halls of residence, certain irregularities were noticed during the course of the election. For most positions that had more than one candidate, agents and loyalists were seen all around the polling areas canvassing and campaigning for their candidates, which is against the rules and guidelines laid down by the electoral commission. Also, during the process of voting, a particular agent for a contestant of a post in Angola Hall was seen sharing biscuits to the voters and campaigning for his candidate through the process. This could be seen as an act or process of vote-buying, which is against the guidelines set by the Ife Students’ Union Electoral Commission.

It was also noticed, during the process of counting the votes in Mozambique Hall, that some unsigned voted ballot papers were found in the ballot box which indicates that they must have been a form of irregularity during the course of voting. This led to the late results that came from Mozambique Hall as the votes had to be counted twice for proper verification and separation of the signed ballot papers from the unsigned.

In summary, at least one election irregularity was noticed in all the eight undergraduate halls of residence, still, the winner for each position has been declared.