APC AND THE ELECTORAL ACT FIASCO

Electronic transmission of results holds great promise for credible elections. Anything else at the moment is unwise

In what amounts to a recipe for confusion, the Senate on Thursday passed an electoral bill which subjects the powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections not only to their own veto but also to that of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). But the votes were along partisan lines with members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) using its majority to ram in the controversial provision: “The Commission may consider electronic transmission of results, provided the national coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and approved by the National Assembly”. Same scenario was reenacted next day in the House of Representatives where a similar provision was added, following an acrimonious session that led opposition members to stage a walk-out: INEC “may transmit results of the election through electronic means where and when possible.”

Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has described the provision inserted by the Senate as ‘unconstitutional and unlawful,’ because it takes away INEC’s exclusive powers over conduct of elections. His position is shared by many stakeholders who could not understand why the APC that came to power on the back of a credible poll seems desperate to circumvent any attempt to institutionalise the process for transparent elections in Nigeria. More disturbing is that the ambiguous provision introduced by the House of Representatives can only encourage an avalanche of litigations in a milieu where politicians now resort to using the court to derail legitimate electoral outcomes.

Indeed, the National Assembly cannot be said to be acting in good faith. We recall that at his meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in December 2019, INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu argued that the use of technology in results collation and transmission was “long overdue, doable, achievable and inevitable.” That position was reaffirmed yesterday by INEC’s National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye. “We have uploaded results from very remote areas, even from areas where you have to use human carriers to access,” he said. “So, we have made our own position very clear, that we have the capacity and we have the will to deepen the use of technology in the electoral process."

Areliable technology-enabled system could help minimise disputes over electoral fraud and rigging of results, thereby preventing long-drawn litigation that has hampered democratic choice. The relative success of the recent governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States is credited to the use of technology in transmitting election results. The introduction of the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) enabled results from polling units to be transmitted to a portal for citizens to view. This has gone a long way in increasing the transparency of the process. But after a failed attempt to plant a rabidly partisan presidential aide as an INEC commissioner, APC National Assembly members have approved an electoral act that bodes ill for future elections in Nigeria.

With electronic transmission of results, INEC is not trying to re-invent the wheel. It is something that has been tried by the commission and it worked. It has increased the integrity of the electoral process and encourages acceptability of outcomes. Our banking and telecommunications systems are about the most advanced in the adoption and application of IT solutions on the African continent. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) rely on automated process for both registration and release of results. The former even conducts its examination electronically throughout the country. This government has also deployed technology for taxation, identity management, and more. Why is it suddenly ‘impracticable’ to deploy such simple technology just to transfer election results?

Given the political history of the country, electoral reforms will be meaningless if they are not driven by technology which enhances integrity and transparency. We therefore hope that the APC members in the National Assembly and those who encourage them within the executive realise the danger of foisting on the country an electoral act that is not fit for purpose and retrace their steps. In their own enlightened interest.

With electronic transmission of results, INEC is not trying to re-invent the wheel. It is something that has been tried by the commission and it worked. It has increased the integrity of the electoral process and encourages acceptability of outcomes