Ekiti Poll: Yiaga Africa Raises Concern Over Ballot, Result Sheet Discrepancies

Election observer group Yiaga Africa has raised concerns over inconsistencies in election materials used in Saturday’s Ekiti State governorship election, warning that discrepancies between ballot papers and official result sheets could create challenges during vote recording and collation.

In a preliminary election statement released on Saturday, the organisation said reports from its field observers showed differences between ballot papers deployed to polling units, polling unit result sheets and the final list of candidates published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Yiaga Africa disclosed that 96 per cent of its observers deployed across 250 randomly selected polling units across Ekiti State were present at their assigned locations to independently monitor the conduct of the election.

According to the group, Form EC8A , the official polling unit result sheet used for recording votes , provides spaces for 15 political parties, while ballot papers seen in polling units reportedly display 19 parties.

It further noted that INEC’s updated final list of candidates released before the election reflected 14 participating parties.

The organisation said the inconsistencies appear connected to changes that occurred after INEC’s earlier publication of candidate details and subsequent legal and administrative developments involving political parties before election day.

Yiaga Africa warned that such discrepancies could create operational difficulties for election officials.

It explained that where result sheets contain parties not appearing on ballot papers, presiding officers may end up recording zero votes for parties unavailable to voters.

Similarly, where ballot papers contain parties absent from result sheets, questions may arise over how votes should be entered and reconciled during collation.

The observer group therefore called on INEC to urgently clarify the final list of validly participating parties and provide written guidance to polling and collation officials to ensure consistency in handling election results across the state.

The preliminary statement was signed by Dr Aisha Abdullahi, Chair of the 2026 Ekiti Election Observation Mission, and Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, who urged electoral authorities to prioritise transparency and timely communication to avoid disputes.

The concerns surfaced amid increased public attention on the conduct of the off-cycle governorship election.

Ahead of the poll, INEC repeatedly assured stakeholders of its preparedness and pledged to conduct a transparent process through the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), result management procedures and election monitoring mechanisms.

The commission also disclosed that PVC collection recorded strong turnout and encouraged eligible voters to participate peacefully while warning against vote-buying and other electoral offences.

Election observers and stakeholders have continued to emphasise that operational consistency remains critical to public confidence in the process, particularly in a high-profile off-cycle election where administrative decisions are expected to align with official candidate lists and voting materials.

As of the time of filing this report, INEC had not publicly announced any widespread malpractice or indicated that the identified inconsistencies had compromised the election process.

However, observer findings continued to draw attention to the need for clear communication and prompt clarification where questions arise during voting and collation.

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