NCS Faults INEC Process, Advocates E-voting to Eliminate Fraud, Reduce Cost by 95%

Emma Okonji

Amid threats by political parties to challenge the Anambra State gubernatorial election result, which produced Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), as winner, the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has faulted the voting pattern used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that the pattern is weak and vulnerable.

Analysing the conduct of the election, the President of NCS, Prof. Adesina Sodiya, called for the adoption of electronic voting (e-voting) system, which he said, would eliminate electoral fraud and reduce cost of conducting election by 95 per cent.

He said there were lots of discrepancies in the figures of registered voters and actual voters, including the rejected votes, which he said, gave rise to suspicions, agitations and fraud, coupled with the perceived high cost of conducting the Anambra gubernatorial election.

Citing figures of registered and accredited voters, including rejected votes and rejected voters as released by INEC, Sodiya said many registered voters could not turn up for accreditation and voting, for fear of the tensed political climate that greeted the Anambra election.

He said the discrepancies in the figures and the challenges would have been nipped in the bud if electronic voting system was used for the election, whereby people could freely vote from the comfort of their homes through mobile devices.

According to the figures released by INEC, Soludo of APGA won the election with 112, 229 votes, and Mr. Valentine Ozigbo of PDP got 53, 807 votes; Senator Andy Uba of APC got 43, 285 votes; Senator Ifeanyi Uba of YPP got 21, 261 votes, bringing the total votes cast to 249, 631, while rejected votes reached 8, 108, and accredited voters were 253,388 and the total rejected voters were 2,246,638.

Sodiya, who stressed the need of electronic voting system for all future elections across the country, said NCS and its interest groups would be ready to deliver the electronic voting system for Nigeria, if allowed to do so.

According to Sodiya, electronic voting would eliminate fraud in electoral processes and also reduce the high cost of conducting elections by 95 per cent.

“NCS is determined to save Nigeria from electoral challenges and we are prepared to collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and we are willing to send a detailed proposal to President Muhammadu Buhari, including INEC chairman, the National Assembly, and State Government, and we hope they will listen to us,” Sodiya said, adding that it is time government allows Nigerian Information Technology (IT) professionals to solve Nigeria electoral challenges. It is time that government allows professionals to design and build systems that will solve Nigerian peculiar challenges by Nigerians, he said.

Giving details of how technology can drive transparency and trust in any election, Sodiya said: “There are now new technology platforms and infrastructure that will make election process transparent, cheaper, easy to audited, and acceptable for all. NCS hereby proposes a simple online voting system that uses the National Identification Number (NIN) to validate and accredit voters and use facial recognition to validate election. It means, eligible voters must have NIN and a unique phone number.”

He highlighted the many benefits of electronic voting system to include: The ability of voters to vote from the comfort of their house, resulting in mass participation without fears; Election can be held over many days; Election process can be fully audited; Proof-of-life is established before voting can be done; Nigerians in Diaspora will be eligible to Vote; The cost of conducting election will be reduced by 95 per cent; Legal evidence can be generated and presented in court within minutes; and dashboard will be made available to all participants and the press to see the live progress of election, thus eliminating doubts.

Other collateral benefits according to Sodiya, include: The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) database will come alive and become active for secure transactions; Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOAMSAT) will be funded to provide satellite coverage for areas where telecoms operators do not have presence; and the ability to export the technology to other countries and earn foreign exchange for Nigeria.

“What we need now as a nation is a major mind shift by the National Assembly members, INEC Officials, political parties and Nigerians generally. The Banks, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have shown everyone that electronic transaction is the way to go. Government must therefore embrace electronic voting and electronic transmission of election results,” Sodiya said.