The former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has faulted the National Assembly’s move to exclude the electronic transfer of results from the Electoral Amendment Act Amendment Bill.
Jega, on a television programme on Sunday argued that allowing INEC to use electronic voting without the electronic transmission of results is counterproductive.
In his words: “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.”
He noted that some politicians in the country are uncomfortable with the electronic transmission of results.
He, however, added that not all politicians are fraudulent and want to win by hook or by crook.
On whether Nigeria is ready for a fully digitised electoral system, he added: “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.”
