The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has
carried out a test run of the anticipated electronic voting system in Nigeria.
At its headquarters in Abuja on Monday, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC
chairman, said 40 companies who indicated interest in the process “will
demonstrate how their IT solutions meet our specifications”.
Over the years, there have been calls for electronic voting
as a means to improve the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process.
In the buildup of the Edo state governorship election, INEC
had announced that it will “work towards the full introduction of electronic
voting in major elections starting from 2021”.
At the demonstration of the electronic voting machines,
Yakubu said the commission invited the companies after it developed
specifications of the functions required for the process.
He described the initiative as “another giant step” in the
INEC’s continuous effort to “deepen electoral integrity in Nigeria through the
deployment of technology”.
“For some time now, the commission has been working on the
deployment of technology in voting during elections to replace the current
manual system which is tedious and requires enormous logistics to deliver huge
quantities of printed materials and a large number of ad hoc staff to
administer the process,” the INEC chairman said.
“To this end, the
commission developed the specifications of the functions required of the
machine.
“After extensive discussion and review, the commission took
the decision to invite original manufacturers of electronic voting machines
(EVMs) around the world for a virtual or practical demonstration of the
machines.
“Over 40 companies that indicated interest will demonstrate
to the commission how their IT solutions meet our specifications.
“I wish to emphasise that this is only a demonstration that
will enable the commission to evaluate the available technology and where
necessary finetune our specifications before proceeding to the next stage which
will involve the participation of stakeholders.”
Yakubu added that INEC was committed to expediting the
process that would lead to full adoption of e-voting “in earnest”.
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