The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has expressed fears that the 2019 Nigeria’s general elections may be hampered by technology, going by the rates of election meddling via technology in some other countries.
Yakubu, who was speaking yesterday at the opening ceremony of a conference attended by the Electoral Management Bodies of the ECOWAS member countries and the South African Development Community member states, noted to avert it, African countries must come together.
“We are worried about the twin issues of communication and security given the high stakes of conducting elections in developing countries,” he said while speaking on the topic ‘Opportunities and Challenges in the Use of Technology in Elections: Experiences from West and Southern Africa.’
Specifically, the INEC boss argues that a situation, where data resides and directly transmitted to the tallying centres through offshore vendors rather than exclusively controlled within national boundaries by election monitoring bodies should bother anybody, including the election umpire.
While urging all African countries to explore the advantages and challenges of technology in election, the INEC boss asked election bodies in the continent to use technology to curb election malpractice and ensure more people are allowed to exercise their franchise.