The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria has been advised to consider the deployment of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the management of the nation’s electoral process in order to achieve free, fair and credible general elections in 2015.
At a forum organised on Tuesday to look at ways of promoting credible elections through the use of information technology, the Project Director of the Democratic Governance for Development, Mr Mourtada Deme, urged the electoral body not to relent in seeking new approaches for credible polls in 2015 and beyond.
He stressed the need for the electorate to be enlightened on the roles of ICT.
“The role of ICT in an election will be to ensure the secrecy of the vote and to accurately and credibly determine the will of the people.
“For ICT to play its role faithfully and effectively, all technology in election should serve to enhance the cardinal principle of accuracy, accessibility, informed electorate and transparency,” Mr Deme stated.
Also at the forum were key government officials and representatives of the United Nations.
A National Commissioner of the electoral body, Mr Nuru Yakubu, pointed out that mere deployment of technology would not automatically translate to the trust of the electoral process.
“As it is often said, in our contest, an accurate register of voters is a prerequisite to free, fair and credible elections,” he said.
The Deputy Senate president, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said that the Nigerian government was eager to inject technology into the electoral process to enhance it.
He also said that the National Assembly would support the electoral process.
As much as the deployment of information communication gadgets for previous elections in the country may have yielded positive results for voter registration, education and election monitoring, some experts have cautioned that the introduction of ICT into any aspect of election management should be a gradual process.
As the 2015 general elections draw nearer the consensus at this gathering is that the deployment of ICT in the conduct of elections is key to ensuring its credibility.
