The
Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday in Abuja advocated a
review of the extant laws prohibiting electronic voting in the country.
The
commission was of the view that the scientific system of voting had become an
unavoidable reality as evidenced in the major role technology played in the
success recorded in the 2015 general election.
The
Chairman of INEC, Hajia Amina Zakari, represented by INEC National
Commissioner, Mr. Lawrence Nwuruku, said this during the post-2015 Electoral
Reform Symposium organised by the National Democratic Institute and other civil
society organisations.
The
introduction of the card reader machine by the immediate past INEC Chairman,
Prof. Attahiru Jega, was said to have minimised rigging and electoral
irregularities during the 2015 general election.
At
the event chaired by a former Senate President, Dr. Ken Nnamani, the INEC
chairman raised many posers on the need for comprehensive electoral reforms
ahead of the 2019 general election.
“Should
we not then entrench its use and application in our electoral laws to avoid
whatever ambiguities that may exist with the present legal regime? Should
Nigerians in the Diaspora not have the right to vote? Should electronic
accreditation, transmission and collation of results not be permitted? Should
the decision of the returning officer be final subject only to a reversal by a
tribunal?” Zakari queried.
She
added that there was the need to re-examine the role of INEC in election
petitions, particularly where the commission had been made a mandatory
respondent in all petitions.
While
calling for the implementation of the recommendations of the Justice Uwais
Electoral Reforms Committee, Zakari said it was time such reports that had
gathered dust in the shelves for too long should be revisited.
She
said, “For us to consolidate and build on the gains of the recent past, we must
take cognisance of the imperatives of electoral reforms in order to build a
sustainable, stable and durable democracy.”
The
INEC chairman, however, regretted that the commission submitted a comprehensive
memorandum to the National Assembly as well as the 2014 National Conference but
that the proposed amendments did not see the light of the day.
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