The governor of Kaduna State, Mr Nasir El-Rufai, has called for the adoption of electronic system of voting to conduct elections across the country.
Governor El-Rufai, who appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s flagship programme News At 10 on Saturday, believes the e-voting would prevent the nation from unnecessary spending among other challenges.
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He made the recommendation after the Kaduna State government implemented the e-voting system in the conduct of election for all local government areas across the state.
“I think it can work at the national level; it has been successful, and we believe it can be duplicated across the country,” the governor said.
“We think that this is a very solid foundation for the development of our democracy because a credible, fair, and transparent election will determine the quality of leaders going forward.”
With about nine months to the general elections, El-Rufai, however, said there might not be enough time for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to implement the system in 2019.
He explained that the state government spent a considerable time in planning for the electronic system of voting adopted by Kaduna State Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) in today’s exercise.
On the gains of e-voting, the governor stated that the e-voting system did not only make the exercise easier for the electorate to cast their votes in a lesser time, but it also eliminated the rigging strategy of ballot box snatching.
He added that the government saved about N1.7billion that could have been spent printing ballot papers with high-security features.
According to him, the electronic machines can be used for the next 10 years as they only require updated software for subsequent elections.
Governor El-Rufai acknowledged that his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), might not win all the local governments as it has always been in state elections, saying they do not wish that the process be perverted.
He further commended KADSIEC for their efforts in ensuring that the process was successful, noting that the exercise has been peaceful and stress-free for the electorate.
The governor said the process was also commended by stakeholders who took part in the exercise, including the election observers and the electoral officers who conducted the poll.
