Edo, Ondo governorship polls show how e-voting can engender credibility in Nigerian elections
The September 19 Edo and October 10 Ondo governorship elections have shown that electronic voting ( e- voting) can engender credibility in the country’s electoral process, especially in the management of election results.
This is as the deployment of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC RESULT VIEWING ( IREV) that enabled Nigerians to view Polling Unit results real time as the voting ended in Edo and Ondo alone proved to have reduced the incidences of results manipulations.
The introduction of IREV which was first experimented in the August 8th, 2020 Nasarawa Central State Constituency byeelection and subsequently the Edo and Ondo polls, according to INEC was to further strengthen the transparency in the election result management system which has remained a major source of mistrust in Nigeria’s electoral process.
As INEC truly observed, the issue of result management exacerbated by manipulation of results has always been the bane of the electoral process in Nigeria which attracts wild condemnations and criticisms both at the local and international levels.
For instance, at end of the 2019 general elections, the European Union Election Observation Mission ( EU EOM) in its final report on the 2019 decried that lack of transparency and inconsistent numbers during the collation of results by INEC cast a long shadow over the integrity of the elections.
EU EOM report among others said :” Numerical discrepancies and anomalies on polling unit results forms were identified and were mostly corrected by collation officers on the spot but without a clear system of record - keeping. Inconsistent numbers during collation, lack of clear checks and explanations and insufficient public information undermined the integrity of the elections.
Similarly, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room in its report lamented that: “There were differences between the number of accredited voters and the total number of votes cast in many Polling Units. The Independent National Electoral Commission operations fell short of its identified roles”.
However, the deployment of IREV in Edo and Ondo has at least put these issues to rest, except for other electoral malpractices such as violence and vote buying that were common particularly in Ondo gubernatorial
polls.
At the end of the Edo governorship election, even the worst critics of INEC and the electoral process, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) applauded the use of virtual portal by INEC to upload results directly from the polling unit as it said the application made it impossible for electoral violators to hijack the electoral process.
If the use of the viewing portal ( IREV) alone could reduce to the barest minimum, election results manipulation, the full automation of electoral process such as e- voting which Nigerians have always clamour for would enhance the credibility of polls in the country, hence the electorate votes would count.
This position has been buttressed by the umpire body itself at different fora even it is making frantic efforts to achieve evoting as evident in the recent demonstration of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS) by 40 companies with the Commission key staff.
Also, the INEC Chairman, Yakubu Mahmood called on lawmakers to amend the Electoral Act to give backing to the use of technology to improve the electoral process as he alluded to the fact that the IREV for instance helped in quick collation of results and reduced manipulation in the recent polls.
According to him: “A lot has been achieved aboard with a simple application of technology. So, the encumbrances to the deployment of technology in the transmission of election results should be removed as part of this process”.
Speaking to Businessday on the importance of the deploy
ment of IREV and its positive impact on the Edo and Ondo governorhip elections, Idayat Hassan, Director of the Centre for Demo and Development ( CDD) said the timely upload of the results on the platform reduced collation challenges.
She insisted on the need to introduce more technology into the elections and called for a holistic amendment of the Electoral Act, adding that a combination of the card reader and the IREV has gradually reduced fraud in the last elections.
Idayat said the CDD report indicated: “In the case of the Nassarawa State Constituency Election and the Edo Governorship Election, the immediate uploading of results improved the transparency of INEC’S result management process, in preempting attempts to introduce changes or alterations at other levels of collation, beginning from the ward or Registration Area ( RA) level.
“The uploading also enabled stakeholders to track the progress of result uploads and project the outcome of the election before the final declaration. In the case of the Ondo election, the results were processed within about 5 to 8 hours of the close of polls.
“CDD recommends that, going forward, INEC should continue to enhance not only the results management process, but also the electoral process in general.
Towards this end, it will be important to begin focusing on the need for the replacement or upgrade of equipment such as the SCRS, or, look for better, multifunctional equipment that can encompass the entire process from the registration of new voters through to the processing of results”.
Also, a Political Scientist at the Nnandi Azikiwe University in Awka, Christian Okeke said the uploading of unit level election results on INEC’S IREV portal witnessed in the last governorship elections is a welcome development.
He noted that: “Election results are beginning to gain credibility. Expectedly, contesting election results will begin to diminish. This is an end- product of strategic reform needed to strengthen election credibility, and which is yet to be faulted. Such an initiative is the way to go.
“This should be followed by full deployment of electronicvoting enabler so as to totally leverage on the window of opportunity provided by the ICT, just as the use of card- reader system is being advanced.
“However, while optimizing those low- hanging fruits, stakeholders need to eliminate other challenges besetting the electoral process. Electoral Act amendment and subsequent implementation are obviously needed to address the challenges of election”.
A lot has been achieved aboard with a simple application of technology. So, the encumbrances to the deployment of technology in the transmission of election results should be removed as part of this process