News Editor
Rt.Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (CFR) Governor of Sokoto State and former Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria has stated that the entire Nigerians, the international community, INEC, the entire Civil Society, almost all the political parties are in support of Electronic Transmission of votes.
Tambuwal stated this in a press statement while appealing to the sitting members of the National Assembly that it is in the national interest to bequeath to Nigeria an Electoral Act that will contribute to free, fair, and credible elections in Nigeria irrespective of party platform.
Using the Edo and Ondo States elections where electronic transmission of votes cast from the unit level ensured that the voters’ wishes were respected as good examples, PDP won in Edo and APC won in Ondo as a result, Tambuwal stated that it is a credible, free, and fair election that will ensure that the voters decide any electoral contest.
Citing scenarios where a person may be in the ruling party today and in the opposition party tomorrow, a situation where party leaders would want to frustrate the re- election of a sitting member, even in the same political Party, Tambuwal emphasizes that what guarantees the re-election of a member of the National Assembly or indeed any other contestant should be his performance and appeal not the dictates of any godfather either as Governor, President or Party leader or stakeholder.
“Some have argued that INTERNET penetration in all parts of Nigeria is not assured. This is exactly why the bill should give INEC the prerogative of introducing ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF VOTES in any election. In any case, INEC has demonstrated and assured that it has the technology to transmit votes electronically even WITHOUT THE INTERNET. INEC had also assured that with the new process and technology, any interested Nigerian could track or monitor the results of the election from his or her house.
“Once results of elections are announced from the collation centres, down to the wards, Local Governments and final collation centres, any person can monitor it without any human error”, INEC announced recently” He explained.
Stressing that his intervention is not a partisan one, but a contribution from someone who has had varied experiences as a legislator, a former Speaker, a sitting Governor and one who has been involved in leadership of political Parties, Tambuwal urged the lawmakers to please, be guided by the wishes of their constituents who should be ultimate arbiters in a democracy.
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