EXCLUSIVE: INEC Gears Up For Electronic Voting In 2023

Nigeria’s 2023 general elections may witness a departure from the norm, as efforts are said to be in top gear for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct more credible elections through electronic voting in the next general elections.

THE WHISTLER understands that INEC may deploy electronic voting machines and transmit results electronically in the next general elections if things should go according to plan.

A top INEC official told this website under the condition of anonymity that President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent reappointment of Mahmood Yakubu for a second 5-year term as INEC chairman may not be unconnected to the electoral body’s plan to switch from manual to electronic voting in the 2023 general elections.

Yakubu had hinted about this when he attended the inauguration of the House of Representatives committee on the review of 1999 Constitution on October 15 in Abuja.

A source in INEC’s ICT department told THE WHISTLER that Yakubu had already started introducing electronic voting gradually, saying “One of the evidences was the result viewing portal which is an introduction to e-voting.”

The source noted that the INEC chairman and the director of ICT department were working hand in hand towards the actualization of electronic voting for use in the next presidential, governorship and national and state assembly elections, amongst others.

“With his reappointment, work will start earnestly I believe. We shall test run next year I’m sure,” he told THE WHISTLER, adding that, “My department runs the initiative for electronic voting” when asked why he was so sure.

According to the source, “the ICT department of INEC has made various proposals towards going electronic by 2023.”

THE WHISTLER had reported that during the inauguration of the reps committee on review of the 1999 Constitution, Yakubu had appealed to the federal lawmakers to hasten the process so it doesn’t affect the timeline of the 2023 general elections.

He had also urged the lawmakers to ensure that electronic voting was captured in the planned amendment, saying the country’s electoral process was “too manual and very archaic”.

Yakubu told the federal lawmakers: “You have seen what we achieved in Edo where we were able to upload results electronically. So, the impediment must be removed.”

He also revealed that the electoral body had fixed February 18, 2023, for the next presidential election.

Another government source told THE WHISTLER that part of the reasons President Buhari reappointed Yakubu was because he is “clean” and trusted to be transparent.

“Yakubu is clean, he’s not a CIA agent like the other one and Buhari knows that,” he said.

Meanwhile, the youth wings of two apex socio-cultural groups in the north and south east – Arewa Youth Consultative Movement and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Movement – have commended Yakubu’s reappointment by the president.

The group, in recent statements, lauded the quality of elections conducted in the last five years under Yakubu as credible and “tremendous”

They, however, charged the INEC chairman to commence preparations early so as to deepen credibility in the 2023 general elections.