Governor Nasir El-Rufai has stated that with political will
and right determination, electronic voting is possible in future elections in
Nigeria.
Speaking in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday after the
Council election in the State last Saturday, Governor El-Rufai opined that the
success recorded in the last Local Government election conducted via eletronic
voting in the State was a demonstration that it was possible to be adopted
across the country.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai observed that the success recorded
in Southern Kaduna Senatorial District for giving the All Progressive Congress
(APC), victory at the polls, showed the election as a unifying moment and
significant in advancing political consensus in the state and overcoming
divisions.
According to the Governor, his administration had placed the
credibility and integrity of the electoral process above the discredited
practice of previous governments of winner takes all.
The Governor expressed delight with the electorates for
showing, for the second time, that there was no impediment to the successful
adoption of electronic voting technology in Nigeria.
Gov. El-Rufai explained that voters in the state first made
history on May 12, 2018, when they cast their ballots on electronic voting
machines to elect chairmen and councillors for the 23 local government councils
in the state.
He further explained that the election had placed Kaduna
State as the first in Nigeria to use electronic voting and also the first
subnational in Africa to do so.
He noted that the use of the electronic voting also positioned Nigeria as the second country in Africa after Namibia to use the technology.
The governor said, “The local government elections of 4th
September 2021 further validated the Kaduna State Government’s decision to
invest in Electronic Voting Machines to promote electoral integrity and
transparency.”
According to Governor El-Rufai, “Kaduna state is proudly
upholding a new chapter in elections in Nigeria, using electronic voting
technology, championed by a government that is determined to respect the
outcome, win or lose.”
As governor of Kaduna state, he said that he has always
taken the view that “we all win when democracy triumphs.”
Governor El-Rufai, however, congratulated all the winners in
the local government elections, challenging them to use their period in office
to serve the people, uphold democratic tenets and promote peace in the state.
The governor also thanked the people for the support they
gave APC candidates during the elections, saying that the people again
demonstrated with their votes that they recognised their efforts to empower
them, to educate their children properly, to secure better healthcare for them
and to return their priorities to the heart of government.
El-Rufai emphasized that he was particularly pleased that
his administration’s determined efforts to promote democracy were helping to
further unite the state with the last local government election.
Gov. El-Rufai stressed, “We welcome the results in the
Kaduna South Senatorial District, as a significant step in advancing political
consensus in our state and overcoming division.
“We are most grateful to the people of the Kaduna South
Senatorial District whose votes have helped expand the APC’s footprint in the
area.”
He noted that the voters have given the APC victory in four
of the seven local government where elections were conducted in Southern
Kaduna, adding that the APC won in Jema’a and Kauru local government councils,
as well as retaining Sanga and Kagarko which it won in 2018.
He explained that the unprecedented victory in Jema’a augurs
well for advancing unity and commitment to common endeavours in the interest of
unity, peace and progress in the state.
Governor El-Rufai noted that it was an embrace that the
party do not take for granted, saying that they accepted it as a moment for
opening new vistas, extending bridges and saying farewell to what he called
“needless divisions”.
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