Prof Attahiru Jega, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has faulted National Assembly’s, NASS, exclusion of electronic transmission of results from the Electoral Amendment Act (2010).
Jega made the observation when he appeared ChannelsTV’s Sunday Politics on Sunday.
According to him, allowing the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to use electronic voting without the electronic transmission of results is counterproductive.
“You can’t permit INEC on one hand to use electronic voting and not use electronic transmission of results because usually, they go as a package.
“Once there is a robust software and hardware for doing so, it now brings efficiency, transparency and real time ability to see the result as they are transmitted from the polling unit to a National Collation Centre.”
While explaining that “not all politicians are fraudulent and want to win by hook or by crook,” Jega urged NASS to ensure that the Electoral Amendment Bill (2021) was appropriately amended before being passed.
“I will urge that we make haste slowly. There is no doubt that if electronic voting is done appropriately, it will go a long way in improving the integrity of our elections.
“There are so many challenges in our country. For one to be able to do effective, thorough electronic voting, you need the infrastructure, software and associated support infrastructure. For example, stability of electricity, extensive network coverage and robust internet facilities,” he said.
