FCT, Abuja – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reacted to the rejection of electronic transmission of election results by the National Assembly in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
The Punch reports that the commission said on Saturday, July 17, that the use of the technology would be feasible in the deepening of democracy in Nigeria.
INEC premised its optimism on the fact that its joint committee made up of telecommunication stakeholders had revised the system and concluded that electronic transmission of results was practicable.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the newspaper, Festus Okoye, the INEC national commissioner and chairman (Information and voter education committee) made this known in Abuja.
He said the INEC was committed to deepening the use of technology in the electoral process and had many times demonstrated it through the creative, innovative and strategic deployment and application of technology.
The Nation also reports that Okoye said the commission has the assurance of the service providers that they have provided similar technological solutions to other agencies and have the capacity to deploy technology to cover a few blind spots.
Okoye stated that domestic election observers and the media applied for accreditation to observe and cover elections electronically and that henceforth, political parties would submit the names and photographs of their polling agents electronically.