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| Dr Stephen Aina |
By Clarion Olusegun
The Student Union Electoral Committee has revealed that voting during the forthcoming Student Union Government re-run election will only be done at the University's Computer Based Test Center.
While speaking to our correspondents during an Interview on Tuesday, the Chairman of the committee, Dr Stephen Aina noted the system of voting was adopted in bid to prevent possibilities of having the election portal hacked.
According to him, the electoral process was suspended on October 12, 2019, following the Inability of students to access the voting site on the day of election. He noted that this was caused by unknown individuals who hacked the portal and manipulated the election results.
Aina said that the new method was agreed upon by the Dean of Students Affairs, Dr. Olusegun Owolewa, members of the SUEC, aspirants and other concerned bodies.
He stated, "When the election was initially held, we got to discover that the entire site was hacked to the extent that students didn't have network to vote. That had not happened before, because we already test-run the site and it worked effectively.
“ Hence, when the committee met with the Dean of Students Affairs, the aspirants and ASTA director after the suspension, we were convinced that there was no way we could go for online voting entirely again this year, because all these hackers are so desperate to manipulate the voting system. So, we decided to use the university's CBT centre, that is the centre used for all general exams.
"This will enable the election to be controlled internally. There will be no external influence, where somebody in Lagos or Akure can hack the voting portal and manipulate students' votes. We are not ready for that now, because we need to have a Student Union Government urgently."
He noted that only 200 level to final year students of the school are eligible to vote with their school identity cards on the day of election.
Highlighting the process to be involved in voting, he said, "After screening voters with their ID cards, their hands will be marked with markers that cannot be easily erased. Qualified students will then be given pins to login into the computers with. After logging in, the identities of the aspirants will show up from the beginning to the end for students to vote, and submit their votes afterwards.
“Every financial student of this institution is eligible to vote on that day. The election will come up between 9 0'clock and 4 O'clock, as all students will still be in the school premises within these hours."
Also, he noted that a board within the premises of the CBT will be available for agents of different aspirants to monitor the election. However, only the agents woull be allowed to have access to the billboard because of the internal mechanism.
On security, the Chairman said the the SUEC will be engaging DSS, the Nigerian Police Force, and Civil Defense, to monitor and ensure a violence free election.
He advised the aspirants to do enough publicity and mobilization on their parts, as only aspirants with the highest votes will emerge as the winners.
Aina further urged students to comply with the voting instructions and co-operate with the committee in ensuring a free and fair election.
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