The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed worry that technology alone may not be a panacea to credible election in Nigeria.
INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, at the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room’s Stakeholders’ Forum on Elections, in Abuja on Thursday, identified the nation’s telecommunications network as an obstacle to deployment of technology in the conduct of election.
The Electoral Act 2022 legalised the use of technology in the conduct elections.
But Prof. Amupitan noted that some of the over 176,000 polling units in the country are located in remote areas, which makes real-time upload of all results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal a difficult one.
He stated that a tool like the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) functions perfectly on only network.
The INEC Chairman however, assured that the commission is committed to continuous engagement with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and network providers “while actively exploring alternative technologies and building system redundancy to bridge these gaps.”
He stated that apart from the issue of technology, the nation is still faced with the persistent low turnout of voters in election, and said it threatens the very legitimacy of democracy in the country.
“To secure democracy, technological integrity must be matched by political accountability.
“We recognise that vote-buying and financial inducement derail the will of the people,” he stated.
According to him, the 2023 general elections recorded a turnout of just over 27 percent, and said it is a stark reminder that apathy cannot be solved by technology alone.
Prof. Amupitan however stated that the commission’s mobilisation of voters during the November 8 Anambra governorship election provided “a vital roadmap in this regard.
He revealed that a total 2,802,790 voters registered in the state for the election while 63.9 percent of them collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
“By proactively extending the PVC collection period across all 326 registration areas in the state, we drove the percentage of collected PVCs to an impressive 98.80 percent of registered voters before the election day.
“This result demonstrates what is possible if more voters are actively mobilised to register and also collect their PVCs.
“This is where the consensus and partnership with civil society organisations, community leaders, and the media, among other key stakeholders, is indispensable,” Prof. Amupitan stated.
He described the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise as important for the integrity the national voter register, disclosing that since the exercise began in August this year, total of 2,685,725 persons have completed registrations nationwide.
Out of this figure, he stated, 1,576,137 have completed the online pre-registration, while 1,109,588 finalised their registration through physical capture.
“This mobilisation is a testament to the rising political awareness, and we commend the states leading the charge,” he said, and called on stakeholders, especially civil society organisations and the media, to sustain the momentum and ensure every eligible Nigerian is registered before the final conclusion of the exercise.
