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Following thirty years of being ruled by a
military dictatorship, Nigeria is now a
country in transition. They are struggling to conduct fair, free and
transparent elections in a nation that has been riddled with irregularities and
corruption. Although the country and its democracy continue to be in
transition, a big part of the push is to help modernize Nigeria and bring it
ahead into the 21st century. And electronic voting technologies are
expected to play a critical role in achieving the goal of fair and open
elections.
Unfortunately, the forward momentum has faced its
fair share of speed bumps and road blocks. Indeed, the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria has officially ruled
out the use of e-voting systems ahead of its general election in 2015. It's
not that the INEC doesn't see the value and advantages of using such technology
in its upcoming elections, but rather than the commission “currently does not
have the capacity to conduct elections using the scheme.”
Indeed, the INEC Act has a provision that
effectively prohibits the use of electronic voting and until that restriction
is lifted, there is nothing the commission can do. However, there is some
optimism on the horizon.
The youth
of Nigeria support the use of electronic voting. Several groups in the
country have bandied together to campaign for the use of an electronic voting
system in the 2015 election, pointing out that such a system would allow and
ensure a far higher level of transparency. The groups involved in this campaign
include the Leaders of Niger Delta Youth, the Arewa Youth Vanguard, the O'Odua
Youth Forum and the Ohanaeze Progress Youth. This support of electronic voting
is irrespective of political party affiliation, saying that e-voting will help
to “get rid of thugs, loss of lives, election malpractices and all sorts of
malpractices during the 2015 general elections.”
In speaking at a press conference, Com. Solomon
Adodo asserted that an e-voting system “will also make our elections free, fair
and credible.”
And it's not just the young people, the future
voters of Nigeria who are backing the use of electronic voting. The Nigerian
Society of Engineers (NSE) has also recommended to the INEC to use an
e-voting system for the country's elections. More specifically, the society is
calling for the adoption of the Nigerian Communication Satellite (NigcomSat)
e-voting system, saying that it would be willing to provide technical support
for its implementation. The platform has already been used successfully to
elect executive members for the NSE on two occasions.
The solution is described as “workable,”
requiring voters to pre-register with biometric data like photographs and
fingerprints. Using this system, NSE saw an increase of over 20% in the number
of voters for its own executive elections compared to the previous year.
