NASS considering electronic voting in future elections to avoid manipulation – Dickson

Seriake Dickson, senator representing Bayelsa West, has revealed that the National Assembly is deliberating on introducing electronic voting in future elections.

Dickson said this on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday. The former Bayelsa State governor disclosed that the national assembly has started the  move to amend the electoral law.

The lawmaker stressed that the introduction of electronic voting in the country will reduce human interference, which according to him, gives rise to manipulations.

“First of all the electoral law is important and we have started, I mean the electoral amendment committee”, Senator Dickson said.

“We are undertaking a comprehensive review once again of the electoral law to underpin the conduct of free and fair election, to reduce litigation, contest, challenges and disaffection as you saw now even in the Supreme Court venue, people not accepting the verdict of the Supreme Court.

“What we need to work towards in this country in a nutshell and we are trying to build a consensus in the National Assembly, I don’t know whether we will succeed, but we are making some progress, is how we can have electronic voting where you will reduce human interference that gives rise to manipulation, inducement, intimidation and all of that.

“And fortunately there is technology. In 2015, a sitting President Jonathan in the national interest and in our party had the love of the country and our democratic survival enough to say use card reader; that was a major leap”.

He lamented that the Federal Government under the All Progressives Congress (APC) has not been able to build on the progress made in the use of technology in Nigeria’s elections in the last eight years.

“In the party in government, they haven’t really shown that desire to see that we sanitise electoral process, and most importantly now at the level of national leadership, to put the interest of the country above their personal interest and the interest of their party by actively promoting and supporting the application of technology.

“And if that happens, before 2027, we should have a situation where we should have deployed technology and the technology is available, other countries are doing it,” Dickson said.