FASHOLA ADVOCATES USE OF ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM IN NIGERIA’S ELECTIONS FOR EFFICIENCY, COST SAVING · As Indian Company demonstrates operation of Electronic Voting Machine in Lagos Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, Friday again advocated the use of Electronic Voting System for the conduct of elections in the country saying it would not only save Nigerians the stress experienced every four years in the voting process but would also save the nation a huge cost. Governor Fashola, who fielded questions from newsmen after a presentation session and a mock voting process to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Electronic Voting Machine by an Indian firm at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House, Marina, said use of the process would also encourage more participation by Nigerians who ordinarily were apathetic about voting due to the rigours involved. Governor Fashola, who invited the Indian company, Bharat Electronic Limited, explained that he decided to invite them to Nigeria after he visited the Electoral Commission of India where the system has been successfully used over the years adding that if the Commission could conduct elections successfully for over 800 million Indian voters with the use of the machine, it was possible that the present electoral problems of Nigeria with just 170 million population, would be solved. The Governor explained further, “I went to India to participate in an Urban Development Conference and it coincided with the period we were having some challenges with the distribution of Permanent Voters’ Cards in Lagos. So I took off time to visit the Electoral Commission of India just to see how it works for them because I felt that if they were having it easy with a population thrice as large as ours, then we need to learn from them”. According to him, the result of that visit was that be became convinced that Nigeria’s problem could be solved adding that if the Election Commission of India could register and conduct voting for 800 million people their Nigerian counterpart could learn from them and make voting easier for Nigerians. “I started working on how to bring the company that manufactures the machines here, getting visas from the High Commission for them to come here. Now they are here to show Nigerians that it is not rocket science. It is now left for us to find the will to do things better. I even believe these machines could be made here if we put our scientists to task to solve our problems”, the Governor said. He, however, said the decision to use or not to use the EVM in the next elections was for Nigerians to decide but added, “It makes sense because if we are going digital in all other things and processes, cameras and flashes for photography, it makes our life better; so why are we afraid to use the EVM? Almost everything we do now is electronic so why should the issue of use of EVM be a point of discussion. The fact is that automation improves efficiency”. Governor Fashola reiterated that his purpose of bringing the firm here was to show Nigerians how simple the EVM is to use. He added, “The truth is that when I saw this thing, it looked so simple and it made sense. Before, I used to think it was such a complex thing. People are sometimes afraid of what they do not understand. So I said maybe some people who resist this thing resist it because it is something they can’t visually connect”. Urging the Nigerian media to help in explaining the working of the EVM to Nigerians, the Governor explained further, “If you do not understand something sometimes you are reluctant and you are ready to stay where you are. So I thought the only way to stir the debate was to bring the people here and let Nigerians see and understand that this is not complicated, it is simple and cheap”. Other benefits of the machine, the Governor said, include that they last 16 years and so the country does not need to by them every four years adding, “From what the electoral commission told me, each machine is about N50,000; so if we want to do 120,000 polling units, which is what we have in the country, we need about N6 billion. That is a lot of savings”. “We spent about N86 billion in the last elections. So even if we want to buy two machines for each polling unit it will cost about N12 billion and we will have these machines for the next 16 years. We are not going to buy them in the next four years. So this is what I thought; put this thing in the open and let people understand so we can start a real discussion on it”, he said. Earlier, in a demonstration with the EVM at the Banquet Hall, Lagos House, Marina, a mock election was carried out with 22 “voters” voting for two electoral positions being contested by six and seven Candidates . At the end of voting, the “electoral officer”, who was the General Manager of Bharat Electronic Limited, Mr. Sumara Kumar, lifted the machine and pressed the result button which now displayed the voting processes including the number of voters and the score by each “Candidate” Fielding questions from newsmen after the exercise, Kumar explained that the case of double voting or alteration of figures was eliminated by the machine adding that the Electronic Voting Machine has also shortened the time between Voter Identification and registration and release of voting results in the Conventional Voting System. Also, according to him, voting with the EVM eliminates processes like issuing of ballot papers to voters, indelible ink marking on voter’s finger, stamp on ballot paper by voter and folding and dropping of ballot paper into ballot box among other processes. Kumar, who was assisted by the Deputy General Manager of the Company, Mrs. Mini Bijoy, also explained that the machines are portable, easy to operate, tamper proof and the fact that the battery life is for over 36 hours. Some of the features of the electronic voting process were clearly exhibited such as the prevention of people from having the opportunity to engage in multiple voting through the vigilance of the electoral officers. On the ability of the machine to spot people with intention to engage in multiple voting, Kumar said the machine does not presently have provision for fingerprints detection but added that this could be incorporated into it pointing out that in both India and Namibia where it has been deployed, the electoral commissions had succeeded in preventing multiple voting through their vigilance. He said currently each of the machines could be procured at the cost of one thousand dollars and that its adoption by Nigeria would lead to a drastic reduction in the cost of funds expended on organization of elections. On the possibility of data being lost through the vandalism of the machine, Kumar said the software could save data on the machine and could be recalled much later from the memory as it is tamper proof. The interactive and demonstration process was witnessed by several dignitaries including the Governor of Rivers State, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, former Governors, Senator Bukola Saraki and Senator Chris Ngige, APC Governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, National Publicity Secretary, APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, members of the State Executive Council including Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Ademorin Kuye, Commerce and Industry, Mrs Sola Oworu, Establishment, Training and Pensions, Mrs Florence Oguntuase and Information and Strategy, Mr Lateef Ibirogba. Others in attendance included representatives of civil society groups, senior editors of various media organizations and President Infra, at Skipper Nigeria Limited, Mr Rakesh Sardana.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 16:32:30 +0000
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