Time To Allow Electronic Voting

By Muiz Banire, SAN

The challenges bedevilling conduct of free and fair elections in
Nigeria have become so legendary that reviewing them regularly and
suggesting solutions cannot be too much. The rate at which
politicians grow desperate to either occupy political offices or
ensure a surrogate is enthroned is quite alarming. It reminds one
of the poem of the iconic poet, Niyi Osundare, The Leaders and the
Led, in which the poet paints the jungle politics among animals
jostling to occupy the position of leadership. While some know the
purpose of public service, others just struggle to be there without
any inkling as to what they will use the position to achieve for
the people, except personal aggrandizement and enrichment. The
voice of the Forest Sage, interpreted to mean the tortoise, is the
caution and wisdom punctuation reminding of what is required to be
a leader and what the followers must imbibe to groom qualitative
leadership. I have said in many instances in the past that, while
our leaders in many cases are bereft of ideas or vision to lead the
masses to egalitarian status, most followers, who are voters, do
not know why they are voting. Aside from this is the electoral
system of manual nature being fraught with lots of inadequacies
and, at times, fatal consequences.

Our subject of interrogation today, therefore, is the electronic
voting system. We have, over time, witnessed divergence of opinions
on this issue. While a school of thought believes that it is the
solution to the problem of electoral manipulation in Nigeria, the
contrary view is to the effect that not only is it not the
prognosis, but it is equally likely to fortify and scientifically
facilitate a more refined way of manipulating the electoral
process, thereby compounding our electoral woes. My view, over
time, has been that a mixture of both manual and electronic modes
be adopted in Nigeria’s elections. My position is premised on the
fact that the Internet availability in Nigeria is still relatively
poor, particularly the bandwidth. There is hardly any significant
coverage in the rural areas and the country cannot afford to
exclude this sizeable number of Nigerians from exercising their
franchise.

This factor played out in the last general election in 2019 in
which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that had
earlier boasted of deploying electronic voting across the country
suddenly realized that it was just being unduly ambitious in view
of the limitations confronting availability of Internet in most
parts of the country. It had to jettison the idea at the last
minute. To this extent, I believe that in those areas of poor
Internet presence, the country might have to adopt the conventional
manual voting system. However, if it is possible to effectively use
satellite to power the process, the advocacy for manual voting in
this regard may be dispensed with. Last Sunday, I read about 50
companies jostling for the contract for the introduction of
electronic voting system to the electoral process via the
procurement process of INEC and I was elated.

Among the 50 bidders, I believe that a company with the capacity
to put in place national coverage will emerge. If this is
eventually so, I support fully the introduction of electronic
voting system in the entire country. This will, among others,
enthrone some measure of transparency in the country’s electoral
system, eliminate thuggery that leads to voter apathy, reduce, if
not totally eliminate money politics, as money could not be
received, while voting electronically would allow a person’s
conscience to thrive and prevail. Electronic voting will also
eliminate multiple voting and tampering with electoral
materials.

Electronic voting will enable more informed people to
participate in elections as opposed to the present system where
majority of the voters determining the leadership of the country
are largely uninformed, endangering all of us.

Most elite avoid going out to vote due to fear of political
thugs and other miscreants whose bread is often buttered by
unscrupulous politicians to facilitate electoral manipulation and
are always ready and available to unleash mayhem to secure victory
for their sponsors. It is certain that the suffering endured by the
masses under the scorching sun while queuing to vote will be
forgotten as anyone can vote in the comfort of his home or
office.

Electronic voting will also assist in guaranteeing the rights of
Nigerians in diaspora to participate in the electoral process at
home notwithstanding their location in any part of the world. The
agitation to allow Nigerians abroad to take part in determining the
fate of our electoral fortunes has been on the front page of
campaign for free and fair election for quite a while but this has
been impossible due to the backward status of our country
technologically and the reactionary postures of the authorities. It
is certain that Nigerians resident abroad deserve to be allowed to
contribute to our democratic evolution considering the amount of
money they remit home annually, which runs into billions of
dollars. This is in addition to the fact they are Nigerians and
have a stake in the Nigerian project. They, therefore, contribute
in no small measure to our economic fortunes and there is no reason
why they should not have the opportunity to determine how we are
governed. They are also subjects of whatever nature of governance
we put in place as they have investments and relatives at home.

The parochial view presented by the Deputy Speaker of the House
of Representatives about two weeks ago denying the Honourable
Member representing a constituency in Benue State the opportunity
of presenting a petition on behalf of Nigerians in diaspora of
Benue origin was quite disappointing. Such an individual who would
not recognize the rights of Nigerians abroad to agitate for better
security for people at home will definitely not appreciate why such
Nigerians resident abroad should be allowed to vote in our
electoral process. Kudos to the Speaker of the House who later
rectified this egregious error.

However, back to the issue of electronic voting, one must
realize that there is nothing that has advantages without its own
disadvantages. As attractive as the electronic voting system is, it
has its own flaws in terms of susceptibility to hacking and
manipulation from the back end. The allegation of manipulative
tendencies in electronic voting has been quite prominent in the
elections of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the past five
years.

The adoption of electronic voting has been embraced by the
umbrella association of all lawyers and one would be tempted to
give kudos to the association for this feat, which, hopefully,
eliminated the humongous expenses that characterized NBA elections
in the past. Unfortunately, each election of the NBA in the past
five years has been condemned by a section of the Bar alleging
electoral manipulations. Till today, it is doubtful if this has
been satisfactorily addressed to allay the fears and
disappointments nursed by some members of the Bar. The truth,
however, is that, in each successive season, there is an
improvement in the technology adopted. It is my conviction that it
will eventually be perfected to the extent of insulating the system
against any manipulation. There are, therefore, lessons for Nigeria
to learn in the experience of the NBA. My hope and admonition are
that the commission shall ensure that all the necessary protocols
are installed to forestall such manipulation of the system. The
integrity of the system must be ensured.

The involvement of all stakeholders including the political
parties, in the procurement process and ultimate selection will
lend credence to the integrity of the electronically voting system
eventually adopted. This will engender confidence of all. The
government must ensure that our votes actually count as no nation
progresses where injustice prevails.

It is certain that with reduction, if not total elimination, of
rigging and other forms of electoral manipulation, the tendency of
politicians to be dissatisfied with electoral results will
disappear and losers will accept their fate while winners will be
allowed to concentrate on governance. The implication is that less
or no patronage will be available to the tribunals and the courts
and the tendency to cluster the already suffocated dockets of the
court with electoral petitions and appeals will become a thing of
the past. Associated with this is the elimination of bribery and
corruption of the judiciary, which has become a permanent
allegation during electoral disputes. Our judges will be less
enticed with money by politicians, as no one will have any business
looking for favours from the judex.

In addition, huge expenses incurred on electoral justice will be
substantially reduced, if not totally eliminated. It will be a
major saving of the scare resources. With this in place, I am
positive that Nigeria will be joining the progressive comity of
nations in advanced and sophisticated voting systems.

Let me categorically state that, without credible elections,
Nigeria cannot have good leadership that will engender good
governance in the country. Consequently, it is the collective duty
of all stakeholders to ensure that electronic voting system
succeeds. It is expected that those who have benefited and are
still benefiting from the moribund manual electoral voting system
will oppose this move, as they cannot contemplate a better
environment where their means of holding onto power shall be
dislocated. It is, however, important for all men of goodwill to
rise up to the occasion and present a formidable agitation that
will see to the success of this effort.

On this note, I urge the National Assembly to urgently do the
needful towards legalising electronic voting in the country and the
executive, unlike the previous disposition, should assent to the
eventual bill on the issue. Where we fail to put in place an
enduring structure that can guarantee a better electoral future for
the country, we stand a terrible chance of losing our youths to the
bounteous harvest of the diaspora.

This is coupled with terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, robbery of
all forms and other thriving crimes perpetrated by the youth due to
bad leadership and, by extension, bad governance. That is not
taking cognizance of the huge loss of manpower we record every year
to the grim fate of the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert, where
thousands of our youths meet untimely deaths in the course of
looking for greener pastures in Europe. It is never too late to
correct this anomaly and the nation will be the better for it.

By Muiz Banire, SAN

The challenges bedevilling conduct of free and fair elections in
Nigeria have become so legendary that reviewing them regularly and
suggesting solutions cannot be too much. The rate at which
politicians grow desperate to either occupy political offices or
ensure a surrogate is enthroned is quite alarming. It reminds one
of the poem of the iconic poet, Niyi Osundare, The Leaders and the
Led, in which the poet paints the jungle politics among animals
jostling to occupy the position of leadership. While some know the
purpose of public service, others just struggle to be there without
any inkling as to what they will use the position to achieve for
the people, except personal aggrandizement and enrichment. The
voice of the Forest Sage, interpreted to mean the tortoise, is the
caution and wisdom punctuation reminding of what is required to be
a leader and what the followers must imbibe to groom qualitative
leadership. I have said in many instances in the past that, while
our leaders in many cases are bereft of ideas or vision to lead the
masses to egalitarian status, most followers, who are voters, do
not know why they are voting. Aside from this is the electoral
system of manual nature being fraught with lots of inadequacies
and, at times, fatal consequences.

Our subject of interrogation today, therefore, is the electronic
voting system. We have, over time, witnessed divergence of opinions
on this issue. While a school of thought believes that it is the
solution to the problem of electoral manipulation in Nigeria, the
contrary view is to the effect that not only is it not the
prognosis, but it is equally likely to fortify and scientifically
facilitate a more refined way of manipulating the electoral
process, thereby compounding our electoral woes. My view, over
time, has been that a mixture of both manual and electronic modes
be adopted in Nigeria’s elections. My position is premised on the
fact that the Internet availability in Nigeria is still relatively
poor, particularly the bandwidth. There is hardly any significant
coverage in the rural areas and the country cannot afford to
exclude this sizeable number of Nigerians from exercising their
franchise.

This factor played out in the last general election in 2019 in
which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that had
earlier boasted of deploying electronic voting across the country
suddenly realized that it was just being unduly ambitious in view
of the limitations confronting availability of Internet in most
parts of the country. It had to jettison the idea at the last
minute. To this extent, I believe that in those areas of poor
Internet presence, the country might have to adopt the conventional
manual voting system. However, if it is possible to effectively use
satellite to power the process, the advocacy for manual voting in
this regard may be dispensed with. Last Sunday, I read about 50
companies jostling for the contract for the introduction of
electronic voting system to the electoral process via the
procurement process of INEC and I was elated.

Among the 50 bidders, I believe that a company with the capacity
to put in place national coverage will emerge. If this is
eventually so, I support fully the introduction of electronic
voting system in the entire country. This will, among others,
enthrone some measure of transparency in the country’s electoral
system, eliminate thuggery that leads to voter apathy, reduce, if
not totally eliminate money politics, as money could not be
received, while voting electronically would allow a person’s
conscience to thrive and prevail. Electronic voting will also
eliminate multiple voting and tampering with electoral
materials.

Electronic voting will enable more informed people to
participate in elections as opposed to the present system where
majority of the voters determining the leadership of the country
are largely uninformed, endangering all of us.

Most elite avoid going out to vote due to fear of political
thugs and other miscreants whose bread is often buttered by
unscrupulous politicians to facilitate electoral manipulation and
are always ready and available to unleash mayhem to secure victory
for their sponsors. It is certain that the suffering endured by the
masses under the scorching sun while queuing to vote will be
forgotten as anyone can vote in the comfort of his home or
office.

Electronic voting will also assist in guaranteeing the rights of
Nigerians in diaspora to participate in the electoral process at
home notwithstanding their location in any part of the world. The
agitation to allow Nigerians abroad to take part in determining the
fate of our electoral fortunes has been on the front page of
campaign for free and fair election for quite a while but this has
been impossible due to the backward status of our country
technologically and the reactionary postures of the authorities. It
is certain that Nigerians resident abroad deserve to be allowed to
contribute to our democratic evolution considering the amount of
money they remit home annually, which runs into billions of
dollars. This is in addition to the fact they are Nigerians and
have a stake in the Nigerian project. They, therefore, contribute
in no small measure to our economic fortunes and there is no reason
why they should not have the opportunity to determine how we are
governed. They are also subjects of whatever nature of governance
we put in place as they have investments and relatives at home.

The parochial view presented by the Deputy Speaker of the House
of Representatives about two weeks ago denying the Honourable
Member representing a constituency in Benue State the opportunity
of presenting a petition on behalf of Nigerians in diaspora of
Benue origin was quite disappointing. Such an individual who would
not recognize the rights of Nigerians abroad to agitate for better
security for people at home will definitely not appreciate why such
Nigerians resident abroad should be allowed to vote in our
electoral process. Kudos to the Speaker of the House who later
rectified this egregious error.

However, back to the issue of electronic voting, one must
realize that there is nothing that has advantages without its own
disadvantages. As attractive as the electronic voting system is, it
has its own flaws in terms of susceptibility to hacking and
manipulation from the back end. The allegation of manipulative
tendencies in electronic voting has been quite prominent in the
elections of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the past five
years.

The adoption of electronic voting has been embraced by the
umbrella association of all lawyers and one would be tempted to
give kudos to the association for this feat, which, hopefully,
eliminated the humongous expenses that characterized NBA elections
in the past. Unfortunately, each election of the NBA in the past
five years has been condemned by a section of the Bar alleging
electoral manipulations. Till today, it is doubtful if this has
been satisfactorily addressed to allay the fears and
disappointments nursed by some members of the Bar. The truth,
however, is that, in each successive season, there is an
improvement in the technology adopted. It is my conviction that it
will eventually be perfected to the extent of insulating the system
against any manipulation. There are, therefore, lessons for Nigeria
to learn in the experience of the NBA. My hope and admonition are
that the commission shall ensure that all the necessary protocols
are installed to forestall such manipulation of the system. The
integrity of the system must be ensured.

The involvement of all stakeholders including the political
parties, in the procurement process and ultimate selection will
lend credence to the integrity of the electronically voting system
eventually adopted. This will engender confidence of all. The
government must ensure that our votes actually count as no nation
progresses where injustice prevails.

It is certain that with reduction, if not total elimination, of
rigging and other forms of electoral manipulation, the tendency of
politicians to be dissatisfied with electoral results will
disappear and losers will accept their fate while winners will be
allowed to concentrate on governance. The implication is that less
or no patronage will be available to the tribunals and the courts
and the tendency to cluster the already suffocated dockets of the
court with electoral petitions and appeals will become a thing of
the past. Associated with this is the elimination of bribery and
corruption of the judiciary, which has become a permanent
allegation during electoral disputes. Our judges will be less
enticed with money by politicians, as no one will have any business
looking for favours from the judex.

In addition, huge expenses incurred on electoral justice will be
substantially reduced, if not totally eliminated. It will be a
major saving of the scare resources. With this in place, I am
positive that Nigeria will be joining the progressive comity of
nations in advanced and sophisticated voting systems.

Let me categorically state that, without credible elections,
Nigeria cannot have good leadership that will engender good
governance in the country. Consequently, it is the collective duty
of all stakeholders to ensure that electronic voting system
succeeds. It is expected that those who have benefited and are
still benefiting from the moribund manual electoral voting system
will oppose this move, as they cannot contemplate a better
environment where their means of holding onto power shall be
dislocated. It is, however, important for all men of goodwill to
rise up to the occasion and present a formidable agitation that
will see to the success of this effort.

On this note, I urge the National Assembly to urgently do the
needful towards legalising electronic voting in the country and the
executive, unlike the previous disposition, should assent to the
eventual bill on the issue. Where we fail to put in place an
enduring structure that can guarantee a better electoral future for
the country, we stand a terrible chance of losing our youths to the
bounteous harvest of the diaspora.

This is coupled with terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, robbery of
all forms and other thriving crimes perpetrated by the youth due to
bad leadership and, by extension, bad governance. That is not
taking cognizance of the huge loss of manpower we record every year
to the grim fate of the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert, where
thousands of our youths meet untimely deaths in the course of
looking for greener pastures in Europe. It is never too late to
correct this anomaly and the nation will be the better for it.