2023: We’re Committed To Use Of Technology In Electoral Process – INEC

BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it remain committed to deepening the use of technology in the electoral process.

In this wise, it said that it is unarguably committed to the introduction of electronic voting machines in Nigeria, adding that it has accordingly commenced the analysis of the various electronic voting machines showcased by over 50 companies.

INEC therefore said that it is looking forward to the amendment of the Electoral Act to allow for electronic voting, stressing that as an electoral body, it remained committed to introducing electronic voting machines in elections to replace the manual system that had put the Commission under heavy logistics burden, particularly the printing of electoral papers and hiring of thousands of ad hoc staff, among others.

The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of the Commission, Mr Festus Okoye Esq, who announced these during an interactive session with journalists on Friday, said that the Commission is presently attending to procurement issues to the extent allowed by the COVID-19 protocols.

In the words of Okoye; “The commission is presently engaged in the procurement of INEC Voter Enrolment Devices (IVED) for the planned Voter Register update processes.

“These devices will be used to enroll Nigerians that have attained the age of 18 years, clean up the voters register and acquire additional biometric that will be in consonance with the use of Electronic Voting machines.

“The Commission invited over 50 companies engaged in hard and software production to demonstrate the different brands and versions of their Electronic Voting Machines. The companies demonstrated the different Electronic Voting Machine solutions available.

“Some of the companies demonstrated the solutions virtually. The Commission is analysing all the demonstrated systems for purposes of choosing the ones that are in tandem with our ecosystem, rugged, simple to use and easy to maintain,” he said.

Okoye continued; “We are therefore attending to procurement issues under the shadow of the pandemic. The pandemic no doubt affected and still affects production capacities of hardware and software companies.

“We are also looking forward to the amendments of the electoral legal framework that will domicile more concretely the use of technology in the electoral process.”