The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it would be difficult to implement the section of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 that recommended electronic voting if the president signs it into law, citing the process involved in its implementation, and delay in the enactment of the alteration law.
Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this in an interview on This Morning, an Arise News programme hosted by former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati.
Oyekanmi said, “It (electronic voting) cannot be implemented because of the process involved. It is just too late to implement the aspect of electronic voting. It is less than 120 days to the general election. It is too late to embark on electronic voting. This is a large country.
“We cannot deploy our technology throughout the country before the general election. That will be considered for the subsequent general election. Even the process that we have now is strong enough to deliver free, fair and credible elections. I can assure Nigerians of that.”
Oyekanmi also pointed out that delay in the enactment of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was another challenge for introducing electronic voting in 2019, pointing out that the president had not assented to the bill.
The INEC spokesman, however, said, “There is no vacuum. We have in existence the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended. If the bill is not signed by the president, we will make use of what we have. We are good to go.
Oyekanmi declined to make categorical statement on the INEC chairman’s visit to Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari, saying he did not know the crux of the matter discussed at the meeting.
According to him, I do not know what they discussed at that meeting. I need to consult him to know the subject of discussion. So, I cannot comment on it
On Zamfara issue, he said, “The matter is before the court. But I just want to say this. We are the regulator. If the regulator is saying one thing and the regulated is saying another thing, which one are you going to take? I will leave that for public judgment.”
He, therefore, assured Nigerians that the 2019 general election would not be truncated, saying, “Just last week, the National Assembly passed the budget for the election. The figure passed was the exact figure that the INEC presented to the Executive. And that was the exact figure that the Executive presented to the National Assembly.
“The figure is N189.2 billion. We do not envisage any problem. We have been doing the process we need to do. The general election has three components. We have pre-election, election-day and post-election activities.
“As far as our preparation and timetable are concerned, we are on course to the 2019 general election. With the approval of the Senate and our understanding with the federal government, we should not have any problem. I think the issue of the budget will be resolved in a short while.”
