By David Simeon
In the aftermath of the 2025 Students’ Union elections, Comr. Shedrack Eghonghon Ehiguese, a candidate for the SU presidency, has officially rejected the results and petitioned for the immediate suspension of the collation process.
The SU elections, conducted on 24th July 2025, produced a controversial outcome, met with celebration by some and dissatisfaction by others.
While reactions from unsatisfied voters are common after elections, this year’s exercise has been followed not only by complaints but also by formal petitions highlighting alleged irregularities in the conduct of the election.
In the signed petition obtained exclusively by ACJ UNIBEN, Comr. Shedrack asserted that voting was officially scheduled to take place strictly between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., in accordance with university regulations and official guidelines. However, he stated that the Electoral Committee extended the voting period without any formal announcement or justification, which, in his words, “violates electoral principles and may have compromised fairness and transparency.”
He also alleged that during vote tallying, some candidates’ votes were reduced, and that the real-time display of results was paused without explanation. These actions, he said, raise “concerns about data integrity, possible tampering, and breach of electoral transparency.”
Citing widespread student complaints, he added that many voters were unable to access the voting website for up to 40 minutes during the official voting period. According to him, this “denied them the opportunity to vote and violated their democratic right to participate, thereby undermining the election’s legitimacy.”
The petition further raised alarms over a sudden and unusual spike in vote counts for specific candidates toward the end of the extended voting window, describing the increase as inconsistent with “legitimate voting patterns or user activity” and suggesting potential backend manipulation or bot interference.
Comr. Shedrack also alleged that he possesses screenshots showing that unauthorised individuals could edit the names of aspirants on the ballot interface, although he has not yet presented this evidence publicly.
He has called for an immediate suspension of the collation process until proper investigations are conducted into the issues raised. “This election must not proceed on a foundation of illegality and compromise,” he stated.
The petition, which was submitted to the Dean of Students’ Affairs, the Vice Chancellor’s Office (VCO), and the Office of the Vice Chancellor, gave the Electoral Commission a 72-hour window to respond.
That 72-hour deadline elapses today, July 27, 2025, and as of the time of filing this report, the UNIBEN SU Electoral Commission has not issued any public response to the allegations raised by Comr. Shedrack Eghonghon Ehiguese.
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