A female voter, Saka Sekina, broke down in tears on Saturday after an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission allegedly asked her to remove her hijab before she could be captured and accredited to vote in the Osun State governorship election.
The incident reportedly occurred at Ward 8, Polling Unit 9, in Osogbo Local Government Area, where Sekina said she had waited for more than six hours before reaching the point where she was expected to complete her accreditation and cast her ballot.
According to Sekina, the election officials insisted that she remove her hijab before she could be captured for the accreditation process.
She described the demand as unfair and maintained that it infringed on her religious and personal rights.
“My name is Saka Sekina, this is not my first time of voting. I have been here for hours, more than six hours, and when it is now my turn to vote, they are now asking me to remove my hijab before they can take my capturing and that is unfair,” she said.
Sekina argued that she had previously undergone biometric registration for her National Identification Number while wearing a similar religious covering and questioned why a different requirement should apply during electoral accreditation.
“It is not possible. Even when I took capturing for my NIN, this is the way I did it. Why must you ask me to remove hijab? This is my personal right,” she said.
The voter insisted that wearing the hijab forms part of her religious practice and should not prevent her from exercising her right to participate in the governorship election.
“It is my civic right to vote. This is my religion and I have rights to my religion,” she added.
Sekina further alleged that election officials told her that her ears needed to be visible during the biometric verification process.
“They said I should bring my ears, and it can never be possible,” she said.
The incident has raised questions about the manner in which election officials handle the accreditation of voters whose religious practices involve covering parts of the head or body.
It was not immediately clear from the account whether Sekina was eventually accredited and allowed to vote after the disagreement.
The development comes amid reports of long queues and other operational challenges at polling units across Osun State as residents participate in the governorship election.
The development comes amid reports of long queues and other operational challenges at polling units across Osun State as residents participate in the governorship election.
Sekina maintained that after waiting for several hours to exercise her franchise, she should not be required to abandon a religious practice before being permitted to vote.
The allegation against the INEC officials remains subject to clarification by the electoral commission, particularly on the applicable biometric accreditation procedure and whether the demand reportedly made at the polling unit was consistent with its election guidelines.