From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, yesterday, said that for Nigeria to achieve its desire for free, fair and transparent elections, it would need to embrace electronic voting.
He said that electronic voting would help to reduce many of the malpractices that occur during elections due to human error. He said that if activated, the country would always have cleaner polls which would in turn help boost Nigerians’ confidence in the nation’s electoral body.
The minister stated this while addressing the management of Electronics Development Institute (ELDI) in Awka, Anambra State shortly after his facility tour of the establishment.
“Five years ago, when I came here, I was very interested in this electronic voting solution because I know that for our democracy to continue to grow and improve; democracy is like a living organisation that requires nurturing just like human beings, animals, plants and so on.
“For that to happen, we need electronic voting because that will reduce many of the malpractices that occur due to human error. This is because when you do electronic voting, definitely you’ll remove and eliminate all that human factors so that all the malpractices that are associated with that will be eliminated.
“We will now have cleaner and better elections so that Nigerians will be happier, more prepared and willing to participate fully in the electoral processes and I am happy that it started here.
“I have one time gone to INEC. It set up a joint committee with us. And that joint committee did a very nice job. And very recently, we also competed with vendors from other countries and I am happy that the result is encouraging,” Onu said.
Managing Director of ELDI, Dr Ikechukwu Okwu, said that the institute had already developed an electronic voting machine but it was transferred to the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) for expansion.