3 weeks ago
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By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has called for law and ineligible reforms to licence aboriginal voting for indispensable workers, including members of the equipped forces, predetermination officials, journalists and different unit who are incapable to formed their ballots connected predetermination time owed to their nationalist assignments.
The proposal is contained successful INEC’s caller publication, Election Management successful Nigeria: 2015–2025, which Foreword was written by the immediate-past Chairman of the Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
The 200-page publication documents cardinal milestones, reforms and challenges successful predetermination medication implicit the past decade.
INEC noted that portion it has expanded entree to polling units, deployed technologies similar the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System BVAS and promoted inclusivity for Persons with Disabilities PwDs, Internally Displaced Persons IDPs, women and youths, a important class of voters remains disenfranchised during elections.
“Security agents, predetermination officials, transport providers and adjacent journalists engaged connected predetermination work are often incapable to workout their rights to ballot due to the fact that they are deployed connected nationalist work connected predetermination day. It is clip for the state to earnestly see law and ineligible amendments to let for aboriginal voting for this people of voter.
“However, for this to happen, determination is request to amend Articles 44 and 45 of the Electoral Act 2022 to alteration INEC to people the announcement for specified election, specifying the time and hr for the election, the persons entitled to ballot and the determination of the polling units wherever voting volition instrumentality place. Once this is done, the Commission volition make the regulations and guidelines to govern the behaviour of the election
with details connected the persons qualified to vote, arsenic good arsenic the location, date, time, processes and procedures for voting”, the committee stated.
The committee stressed that Nigeria could larn from different democracies wherever provisions beryllium for absentee oregon aboriginal voting for categories of citizens who cannot beryllium physically contiguous astatine polling units connected predetermination day.
It argued that adopting specified a betterment would not lone fortify inclusivity but besides affirm the rights of citizens who sacrifice their idiosyncratic franchise to guarantee creaseless behaviour of elections.
No tech-driven elections
INEC besides cautioned against what it described arsenic the “misconception” that exertion unsocial tin warrant credible elections, stressing that Nigeria’s polls indispensable stay process-driven, with exertion serving lone arsenic a enactment tool.
Outlining its guiding principles for adopting and deploying integer tools successful predetermination management, the Commission said portion exertion has improved ratio successful elector registration, accreditation and effect transmission, it is not a substitute for trust, transparency and robust electoral processes.
“Technology supports elections; it should not thrust them. Elections indispensable stay technology-supported, not technology-driven, arsenic galore commentators erroneously often advocate”, INEC stated.
The Commission argued that technology, nary substance however advanced, cannot resoluteness underlying issues of electoral credibility without transparency, ineligible clarity and stakeholder confidence. Instead, it tin lone “buy clip by expanding efficiency, but not bargain trust.”
INEC besides warned against the unsighted adoption of expensive, off-the-shelf technologies without tailoring them to Nigeria’s peculiar environment. Instead, it prefers to plan its systems internally and collaborate with reputable firms to custom-build solutions.
The Commission’s Policy connected Election Technology Acquisition and Deployment PETAD lays retired 10 principles that person guided its decisions since 2015. Among them are ensuring each strategy has fallback mechanisms successful lawsuit of failure, prioritizing information with a premix of licensed and open-source software, and piloting technologies successful phases earlier full-scale deployment.
These principles, it said, shaped innovations specified arsenic the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System BVAS, the INEC Voter Enrolment Device IVED,, and the INEC Results Viewing IReV portal.
However, INEC stressed that these technologies were designed to heighten its processes, not dictate them.
It insisted that without...
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