Enyinnaya Abaribe, the current senator representing Abia south district, has expressed that electronic voting can promote transparency and credibility in the country’s elections if adopted.
Abaribe was re-elected for a sixth term in the upper chamber in the recent national assembly election under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) after defecting from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
During an interview with journalists on Thursday, Abaribe lamented that it was shameful that Nigeria’s electoral process was still being carried out manually. He noted that the use of written, cancelled, and re-written scores on result sheets during falsification to rig elections degraded the country’s image. Abaribe stated that the adoption of tamper-proof electronic voting was necessary to prevent such malpractices.
Abaribe further stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dashed the hopes of the people for a credible exercise by failing to achieve electronic transmission of results from the polling units to its portal. He also criticized the delay and mishandling of electoral materials during the election.
As a consistent voice in the national assembly, Abaribe promised to reward his constituents for their trust by remaining vocal on their behalf.