Former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to eliminate any excuse that still allows some officials to conduct elections manually or gives the impression that results cannot be uploaded in real-time on the Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
In a statement on Monday, Saraki called for efforts that will discourage and disincentivise the sabotage of technology to manipulate results.
He said this while reacting to the just-concluded elections in Ghana, describing it as a wake-up call to INEC and the National Assembly “on the need to review our electoral process and make it more efficient, transparent, credible and in line with best practices across the world.”
He said for Nigeria to maintain its place as Africa’s leader, there is a need for INEC to embrace technology to help the electoral process.
“A situation where the election in Ghana was conducted on Saturday and by Sunday morning, the contestants had the results that were sufficient enough to make the ruling party concede victory must only be possible through the use of efficient technology,” he said.
Saraki dismissed the argument that Ghana is a smaller country compared to Nigeria, saying “even when INEC conducts an election in one state, the results do not come out so fast as to be known the morning after the election as it was done in Ghana.”
The electoral commission must also comprehensively review its internal mechanism and arrangement to ensure it can help accomplish its constitutional duties, the former Senate President said.
He called on the National Assembly to urgently review the current electoral laws and make amendments that will address the lapses without leaving any ambiguity when it comes to conducting elections in line with law.
“The NASS should update the laws to the point that they can help INEC deliver transparent, easy, fast, and credible elections,” he concluded.
