The Nation Newspaper

Tag: polls

  • Polls and investments

    Polls and investments

    In the build-up to the general elections, political parties had created so much tension that even the ordinary Nigerian was apprehensive about what could happen before, during and after the polls. The reasons for the general apprehension were the hate campaigns and killings of supporters of one political party or the other.

    During the electioneering campaign, and especially the six weeks preceding the elections, domestic investments in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded a substantial decline, owing to fears about insecurity and uncertainties regarding the elections. For instance, the latest investment details from the NSE showed that local investments dropped by N40.1bn at the end of February 2015, although as of January 2015, the total investments by domestic investors stood at N90.61bn while a document obtained from the NSE indicated that this later dropped by 44 percent to N50.24bn by the end of February.

    On the other hand, foreign investments rose in this period; as a total of N133.95bn or 35 percent was attributed to foreign investors, representing an increase of N34.8bn compared to N99.11bn invested at the end of February. In summary, the NSE document reported: “Domestic investors conceded about 45.22 percent of trading to foreign investors as domestic transactions decreased from 47.76 percent to 27.39 percent, while FBI transaction increased from 52.24 percent to 72.61 percent over the same period”.

    Some capital market experts have attributed the consistent reduction in local investments partly to “fears of the general election, the increasing security concerns and the tight monetary policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria”. In addition, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Asset Management Ltd, gave some factors leading to the decline in local investments as external and internal, pointing out that the trend is likely to continue until the second quarter of 2015. According to him, “the factors driving the bear run seem to be declining oil prices; depleting reserves; termination of quantitative easing; likely further tightening of monetary liquidity by the Central Bank and a possible two-horse unpredictable presidential election in February 2015”.

    We wonder why elections should have this much adverse effect on investment, foreign or domestic. Much as we agree that certain events could make calculations to change in countries at given periods, election, particularly electoral violence, should not be one of them. Elections should be a routine event without the restriction of movement that has a bad effect on the economy, as it prevents traders and even financial institutions from carrying out their businesses. The militarisation of the society at election periods also contributes to loss of transactions from legitimate businesses on election days.

    Then, the kind of hate campaigns experienced at this year’s elections are  more than enough to have negative impact on the society. It is obvious, therefore, that under the climate of uncertainties that exist during elections in Nigeria, no investor would like to invest where he cannot guarantee profitable returns on his investment as a result of insecurity or policy inconsistencies of the government. It is, therefore, extremely important that our politicians are made to realise the implications of their behaviours and utterances at electioneering campaigns so that badly needed investors are not discouraged from coming to invest in the country. The political leadership should not allow their supporters to turn election into a theatre of war or a do-or-die affair.

    Although attempts have been made to curtail violence at elections by making the political parties sign peace accords, the accords have not worked because violent acts at elections have become a tradition in the country. We must put a stop to this if we want investors to come to the country. And one way to achieve this aim is to punish people who perpetrate electoral violence.

     

  • The fraud called polls in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, by APC

    The fraud called polls in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, by APC

    •Party seeks cancellation of April 11 elections

    As you are aware, the Governorship and House of Assembly elections were held across the country on Saturday.

    While the elections went on smoothly in most parts of the country, the situation was different in some others, where all that took place was nothing but mock elections, a mere charade!

    Two of the states that witnessed such caricature of elections are Rivers and Akwa Ibom, where elections were not conducted in accordance with INEC guidelines.

    Because of this, we in the APC are left with no choice than to demand the immediate cancellation of the purported elections in the two states.

    Let me now present more in-depth details of what transpired in Rivers and Akwa Ibom on Saturday, and why the elections in the two states cannot stand.

     

    RIVERS

     

    •It is clear that the script for the distortion of the Rivers elections was written by the Presidency and executed by the PDP, the police and militants

    •As you would recollect, our party’s chapter in Rivers had written a petition complaining of the crass partisanship of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police in the Presidential and National Assembly Elections held on the 28th of March. Because of this petition, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Suleiman Abba, posted three Commissioners of Police from the Force Headquarters to oversee the April 11th Governorship and House of Assembly Elections in Rivers State.

    •As soon as the President learnt of this development, he directed the IGP to reverse the decision and instead requested that AIG Tunde Ogunsakin be posted to oversee the April 11th Elections in Rivers State

    •As soon as electoral materials were distributed, the Divisional Police Officer for Akuku Toru Local Government Area simply handed over the election materials for this local government to the militants. Upon learning of this development, AIG Ogunsakin ordered that the materials should be recovered and handed over to the Electoral Officer for the Local Government within the next hour.

    •Irked by AIG Ogunsakin’s directive, the Presidency ordered him to leave Rivers State within 6 hours and a pliant replacement was asked to take over from him.

    •From then on, unimaginative terror was unleashed on the electorate, in particular on APC members and supporters. It was a straight fight between the police, the militants and the PDP on the one hand and the APC on the other hand.

    •Contrary to the directive from INEC that Card Readers be used for the elections, the machines were discarded in Rivers. This is why the voter turnout for Rivers, as announced by INEC for Rivers, stood at more than 75 per cent, compared with the national average of between 25 and 35 per cent.

    •Gentlemen, because of these and other anomalies, we hereby unequivocally demand for the cancellation of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State.

     

    AKWA IBOM

     

    •The APC fully supports the demand by its chapter in Akwa Ibom for the immediate cancellation of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Akwa Ibom.

    •Our position is based on the fact that elections in most parts of the state were not conducted according INEC guidelines.

    •Election materials were not supplied to most of the polling units in all the three senatorial districts.

    – In former Governor Victor Attah’s ward in Ibesikpo Asutan, three contiguous polling units did not receive election materials.

    – In the most of the polling units in Oruk Anam, which is the home local government area of Atuekong Etiebet and Chief Soni Udom, Director-General of the APC Governorship Campaign Organisation, most of the polling units did not receive election materials.

    – Election materials were also not supplied to most polling units in Itu, Ibiono Ibom, Ikot Ekpene, Esisien Udim, Uyo, Eket, Abak, Nsit Ibom, Etinan, Esit Obolo, Ibeno, Nsit Attai, Ikono, Ini.

    •In areas where polling materials were received, hordes of deadly armed thugs, escorted by men in Nigeria Police and Army uniforms, stormed the polling units and carted away the election materials midway into the accreditation process.

    – For instance in Ndiya ward 3, unit 004 in Nsit Ubium, which happens to be the polling unit of our governorship candidate, election materials were supplied but thugs led by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Security, retired Capt. Iniobong Ekong, invaded the place and took away all the election materials. The thugs were later traced to the house of Capt. Ekong, where the election materials were recovered. An inventory of the recovered materials showed that the number of the ballot papers had reduced from 1,571 to 450. The polling officer could not account for the differential. Even so, the Divisional Police Officer of Nsit Ubium later stormed the place and took away the remaining materials.

    •In a meeting with APC Governorship Candidate, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, the electoral officer of Nsit Ubium local government admitted that the election process in the area was marred by security failure, which allowed PDP thugs to hijack election materials and take them to private homes for thumb-printing.

    •Similarly, invasion of polling units and snatching of ballot materials took place in other polling units in Uyo Senatorial District, Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District and Eket Senatorial District.

    •In addition to the failure to supply election materials to polling units and the snatching of ballot boxes, the elections were marred by widespread violence, resulting in the deaths of many people.

    Here are instances of such unbridled violence, as related by INEC staff, party agents and other citizens who saw most of what happened.

    – PDP thugs killed two of our members in Ibiono Ibom when Bassey Albert invaded a RAC centre in the area with over 50 thugs to cart away ballot materials.

    –  The PDP thugs also killed one of our members in Nsit Ubium.

    – Three APC supporters were also killed Uyo.

    – Yet another APC member was killed in Uruan.

    – One more APC member was killed in Ini Local Government Area. This was acknowledged by the Assistant Inspect General of Police, Mr. Baba Adisa Bolanta, who was in charge of elections in the state.

    We have included here some links to pictorial evidence showing the killings and other acts of violence that marred the elections in Akwa Ibom State.

    •In view of the widespread failure by INEC to supply election materials to polling units in most parts of Akwa Ibom, the rampant snatching of ballot boxes and the bloodletting by PDP thugs that characterised the conduct of the elections on Saturday, we as a party hereby call for an outright cancellation of the elections.

    We are vindicated that some local and international election observers have also been very critical of the elections in the two states, with some calling for an outright cancellation.

    The leader of African Centre for Leadership Strategies and Development, Mr Humphrey Bekaren, said in Port Harcourt that the observers were shocked that INEC disregarded the widely reported violent irregularities to begin the process of declaring results in Rivers state.

    He says: ‘’We request all lovers of democracy to join us in calling for the outright cancellation of the phony election.Unless this is done, we would have sown the seed that could eventually grow into providing a shade of fear and death over us.’’

    Also, The Situation Room, which is a coalition of Civil Society Organisations working to ensure credible elections in Nigeria, called on INEC to ‘’urgently take steps to clinically scrutinise the final collated results from Rivers and Akwa Ibom, as well as Abia, against the polling unit results and make a reasoned judgment about them’’.

    It said in its final statement issued a few minutes ago: ‘’In our view INEC should concern itself with possible negative public perceptions of the elections in the three States and ensure that it takes every necessary step to protect the integrity of the elections in the States, as a way of strengthening the trust of the electorate in the voting process.’’

  • Sudanese vote in presidential, legislative polls

    Sudanese vote in presidential, legislative polls

    Voters in Sudan started casting their votes on Monday to elect a president and members for the national and state parliaments amid boycott by most of the opposition parties.

    No fewer than 13.6 million registered voters in the country would cast their ballots at 7,000 polling stations.

    The polling process is to last till Wednesday while counting of votes is set to begin the next day.

    However, the final results of the elections are scheduled to be announced on April 27.

    Forty-five political parties, most of them small ones, are taking part in the race at its three levels, while 16 candidates, including incumbent President Omar al-Bashir, were running for the post of president.

    A total of 1,072 candidates are running for seats at the national parliament and 2,235 others for the state legislative seats.

    Report says regional organisations such as the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development in Africa (IGAD) and the Arab League are monitoring the elections.

    On Friday, EU Foreign Policy Chief, Federica Mogherini, said in a statement that EU announced that it would not take part in monitoring Sudan’s general elections.

    “The failure to initiate a genuine national dialogue one year after it was announced by the government of Sudan is a setback; a real setback for the welfare of the people of Sudan.

    “When dialogue is bypassed, some groups are excluded and civil and political rights are infringed.

    “The upcoming elections cannot produce a credible result with legitimacy throughout the country,’’ the statement added.

  • Polls: Police nab hoodlums in Army uniforms

    Polls: Police nab hoodlums in Army uniforms

    The Delta state governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, has warned trouble makers to steer clear of the state during Saturday elections in the state even as he announced the arrest of suspected criminals in security uniforms.

    Governor Uduaghan, while addressing a pre-elections’ press conference in Warri Thursday, urged the people of the state to conduct themselves peacefully during and after the elections, warning that security agencies in the state had expressed their readiness to decisively deal with trouble makers.

    The governor also assured the electorate in the state that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had put everything in place to see that everything goes hitch-free even as it had perfected lapses observed in the earlier elections.

    According to the governor, security agencies had obtained certain intelligence information about the use of illegally procured army uniforms by some hoodlums, some of whom he said had been arrested.

    “The security agencies have assured me of their readiness to confront trouble makers and ensure a peaceful conduct of the elections. We can make their work easier by making sure that there is peace.

    “I want to make it abundantly clear that trouble makers will not be given a breathing space before, during and after the elections as the full wrath of the law awaits such people. We have enough intelligence to indicate that people with fake uniforms, especially military uniforms, might be involved in the elections process. In actual fact, some were arrested in Sapele Thursday and they are in police custody,” he said.

    Meanwhile, in an earlier meeting with leaders and stakeholders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Governor Uduaghan expressed optimism that the their party would be victorious in Saturday’s elections in the state.

     

  • Polls: Jonathan warns against ‘negative triumphalism’

    Polls: Jonathan warns against ‘negative triumphalism’

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday warned against triumphalism ahead of the governorship and State Assembly elections billed for Saturday.

    He gave the warning in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati.

    He condemned the attempt by some politicians, groups and individuals to intimidate others and heat up the polity in the aftermath of the presidential and National Assembly elections.

    He said: “As the nation prepares for Saturday’s governorship and State Assembly elections, President Jonathan calls on all Nigerians to remain peaceful, united and law-abiding.

    “The President condemns the very unseemly attempt by some politicians, groups and individuals to intimidate others, heat up the polity and cause public disorder and disaffection in the aftermath of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    “President Jonathan is especially concerned about the negative triumphalism that has been put on display by certain elements since March 31, which flies in the face of his personal commitment to post-election peace, unity and national stability.

    “The President calls on all those, who  through their actions and utterances, have been promoting divisiveness, sectionalism and ethnic hatred in the country following the outcome of the March 28 elections to cease and desist from actions that detract from the true spirit and culture of democracy envisioned by patriotic men and women of goodwill in Nigeria.”

    He added condemned the undue harassment of public officials serving under his administration, urging all affected persons to continue to perform their lawful duties without fear.

    The statement added: “The President cautions that this should be a time for the healing of political wounds in the overriding interest of national unity, stability and progress, not a time for ethnic jingoism and the settling of scores.”

    He said the Federal Government would not condone any attempt to instigate a crisis in any part of the country in furtherance of personal political ambitions.

    He assured the citizens that his administration remains committed to national progress and the entrenchment of the best values of democracy for the good of all Nigerians.

    Jonathan also urged Nigerians to go out en-masse once again on April 11 to vote for candidates of their choice in the governorship and State Assembly elections with the confidence that his administration will do all within its powers to ensure that they do so in peace, without threats, intimidation or violence from any quarters.

  • April 11 Poll: Ondo PDP gives Mimiko condition

    April 11 Poll: Ondo PDP gives Mimiko condition

    Ahead of this Saturday state house of assembly and governorship elections in Ondo state, Some aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have set up a 25-man committee to meet with governor Olusegun Mimiko and table the conditions on which they can only work for the success of the PDP candidates in the election.

    The members, mainly the old PDP in the state arrived at the conditions at a meeting at the party Secretariat in Owo local government.

    ‎The old PDP wants Mimiko to involve them in all activities of the party, give them separate mobilization funds for the coming elections and he must deal directly with members of the committee they set up.

    In the meeting chaired by a Chieftain of the party, Hon. Femi Adekanmbi blamed the woeful performance of the party in the last Presidential and National Assembly Polls on imposition of candidates by Mimiko.

    He noted that during the process of the elections, old members of the party were marginalised in all aspect most especially in the mobilization of fund sent to the state.

    Adekanmbi said “We took some resolutions in the meeting, some said we should go and join APC, others said we should remain in PDP and give the governor conditions that he must recognized old PDP and a committee has been set up to meet with the governor and come out with decisions on the way forward latest by Tuesday.

    “We are going to inform the governor personally that if he wants us to remain in PDP, the old members must be respected and carried along in all activities of the party. The people also said they must be Mobilised with fund separately from that of new members and that if the governor wants his candidates to win, he not must not deal with anybody except the committee set up by them.

    “If the governor fails to meet the conditions given, he should be expecting another woeful performance from the party. As at now, series of meetings are going on by leaders of old PDP members in the State but someone like me, I refused to attend but I preferred to hold a meeting with my people in my primary constituency which is Owo and Ose.

    “It is unfortunate that governor Mimiko allowed thing to degenerate to this level. We must move on. I pray things can still be redeemable, otherwise, I have my fear. Imposition of candidates caused Jonathan the chance to lose Owo, take for instance in Owo, he went to impose somebody that was not popular.

    “They pleaded to him that he should change the candidates but he insisted that he will win and I think the people showed to Mimiko that he is not God. Imposition of candidate and the other one is finance, these are the things that worked against PDP. Nobody among the old has money to work with. They only used the token I gave them and the one from senator Bode Olajumoke which was his own personal money to work on that day.

    “It is so sad that President Goodluck Jonathan brought billions of naira to Ondo State and old PDP in Owo and Ose do not have a dime from the money. It was only the new PDP who sat on them and no one naira was disbursed for the old PDP members. So that was where the failure came from. If the governor can fulfill the condition fine, but if not, the APC here we come.”

  • Prepare more for April 11 elections, NHRC advises INEC

    Prepare more for April 11 elections, NHRC advises INEC

    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address some of the challenges identified during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, the Chairman of the Governing Council of the commission, gave the advice on Sunday in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He said the advice became imperative in view of the forthcoming Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections on April 11.

    Odinkalu, nonetheless, commended INEC for the success recorded in the Presidential and National Assembly elections conducted on March 28.

    “We are not asking for perfection, we are asking for improvement and Prof. Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of INEC, has shown that improvement.

    “INEC should, however, learn from the mistakes of the Presidential and National Assembly elections and perfect its art in subsequent elections,’’ he said.

    The chairman also urged the electorate to replicate conducts that encouraged peaceful atmosphere during the last elections in the April 11 elections.

    Odinkalu commended President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat and congratulated President-elect Muhammadu Buhari.

  • Polls: INEC begins movement of non-sensitive materials

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano has begun the movement of non-sensitive materials to local governments, ahead of next weekend’s Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

    The Administrative Secretary of the electoral body in Kano, Abdulrazak Tukur, told reporters at the INEC office yesterday that the commission had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Association of Road Transport Workers (NARTW) to facilitate the movement of non-sensitive materials to local governments.

    He said the signing of the MoU was informed by the challenges encountered by INEC, arising from inadequate number of vehicles to transport non-sensitive materials.

    “I can assure you that we have overcome that challenge. We are planning it in such a way that before the eve of the election, the non-sensitive materials must have reached their destinations.”

    According to Tukur, INEC has resolved the hiccups experienced with the card reader.

    His words: “We are not going to experience such problem again. It was discovered that the lamination on the screen of the card reader was not removed. But now, it has been removed and the machine is picking finger prints.”

    The INEC chief said the commission was recruiting technicians as ad-hoc workers “so that they will be on standby to work on any machine that breaks down or malfunctions,” adding that INEC had begun the payment of ad hoc workers through e-payment.

    Tukur on behalf of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Abdullahi Minkaila, hailed the role played by security agencies in Kano to ensure peaceful and hitch-free elections last weekend.

    He solicited the support of the people in next weekend’s elections.

  • Deploying ICT solutions for polls

    Deploying ICT solutions for polls

    Across the world, information communication technology (ICT) tools and solutions are being deployed to provide answers to human problems. It is now common to find ICT solutions in areas such as medicine, agriculture, commerce and even in churches and mosques. Experts have commended the introduction of permanent voter cards (PVCs) and the card reader for elections. They urge the Federal Government to fine-tune the tools to allow people vote conveniently, reports LUCAS AJANAKU.

    She woke up early last Saturday, prepared breakfast for her five children and headed for Salvation Army Primary School, Ayobo in the Ipaja/Ayobo Local Development Area of Lagos State where she had done her voter registration, collected her temporary voter card and voted at previous general elections.

    Armed with her permanent voter card (PVC), 36-year old Mrs. Esther Kokumo got to the school compound at about 8.15am. She met a long queue of people who wanted to do accreditation with their PVC using the card reader technology which the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) had introduced to enhance the smooth conduct of the election.

    When it was her turn to be accredited, she presented her PVC and her right thumb was placed on the machine which brought out all her data earlier captured during the registration exercise.

    “I spent less than three minutes to do it and returned home to join my children and to wait for about 1pm when voting proper was scheduled to take place,” she said.

    But reports from some parts of the country indicated that the card reader didn’t live up to expectation. For instance, at the polling booth of President Goodluck Jonathan, about four card readers were said to have failed to work in quick succession. That is however not to say the technology was a colossal failure as it was applauded across the country for performing so well and lending credibility to the entire process.

    Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, said:  “A card reader is a data input device that reads data from a card-shaped storage medium. The first were punched card readers, which read the paper or cardboard punched cards that were used during the first several decades of the computer industry to store information and programs for computer systems. Modern card readers are electronic devices that can read plastic cards embedded with either a barcode, magnetic strip, computer chip or another storage medium.”

    When the idea of the card reader was first sold to the Federal Government by INEC, it was bought with excitement but as the general elections inched closer, opposition to its use grew, especially from the ruling party which had earlier gave its approval to it.

    INEC had configured and distributed to states, over 154,000 card readers for the general elections.

    Experts in the ICT industry have commended the introduction of the card reader technology in the country, arguing that in spite of the little challenges that arose from its use, it should be fine-tuned with a view to making it work more efficiently.

    Both the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) and the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the umbrella body of telcos in the country, have urged the upgrade of the technology to a level where a registered voter in Lagos could vote in any part of the country.

     

    NCS’ position

     

    NCS said its position has always been that ICT tools should be sued by government institutions not only to save cost but also enhance efficiency.

    The body believes the country is ripe for electronic voting or e-voting, adding that the introduction of PVC and card reader is encouraging as it will one day dovetail to the use of e-voting.

    It said if e-voting is adopted, it is not only cost-efficient, it will also erase whatever doubts the electorate might have concerning the electoral umpire in terms of transparency.

    Its President, Prof. David Adewumi who spoke with The Nation said there is no basis why the country should not adopt e-voting which the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) have used a couple of time with great success.

    He said: “Our position in the NCS remains the same. We are ripe for e-voting. When you look at e-voting, it is no longer rocket science. The major requirement is the infrastructure, I mean the information technology (IT) equipment, capacity building. Then INEC must provide the purposeful leadership that is required to deploy the technology and consequently, e-voting. I think that is all that is needed. There no space science to that.”

    On the low level of computer literacy and personal computers (PC) ownership in the country, the NCS chief said it was no true that the level of computer literacy in the country was that alarming.

    According to him, the old people in the villages now use mobile phones, adding that keyboard of the mobile phone is even smaller than the ones on the PC. “Yes, the old people in the village now use mobile phones. So what is it about low level of computer literacy you are talking about? The key board for the mobile phone is smaller than that of the PC. I think what is required in this is determination to ensure it succeeds,” Prof Adewumi said.

    He urged INEC perfect the use of the card readers for future elections and embark on the training of its workers.

    “The lessons here are that INEC should train its workers; liaise with professional bodies such as the NCS for professional advice. Card reader has erased the problem of double voting or voting by people who did not register in the first place,” Prof Adewumi said.

    On the possibility of registered voters voting anywhere in the country, he said infrastructure and logistics may make this a wishful thinking. He added that the existence of mistrust among Nigerians may also be a stumbling block in the realisation of the goal.

     

    ATCON’s views

     

    President of ATCON, Lanre Ajayi said technology will continue to simply processes. He expressed delight that public institutions such as INEC have started embracing ICT tools and solutions.

    “I congratulate INEC for introducing the card reader technology into the electoral process. It has brought credibility to the entire process by eliminating the menace of ghost voters. INEC should take the technology further. Having said that, time has come for us to do e-voting in the country,” he said.

    He however said the dearth of infrastructure may make voting as easy as using the automated teller machine (ATM) card to make financial transactions impossible in the short and medium term.

    He said: “Making voting as easy as using ATM card is not rocket science. However, while ATM has infrastructural back up such as internet running on the network of telcos, the card reader does not. So, for this to happen, there must be 100 per cent connectivity to support it. Hopes are not lost because we are investing heavily in building infrastructure across the country. So, it is something that could be achieved in the not too distant future in the country.

    “Some states such as Lagos have achieved almost 100 per cent coverage. The pilot of such innovation should be run in those states to see how it works. But if we are talking about running it in the entire country, that may not be possible now for obvious reasons, especially network coverage.”

    Namibia became the first African country to adopt the e-voting technology with the Southern African country using it during her general elections last year

    The e-Voting Machines (EVMs) were acquired at a cost of 24 million Namibia dollars from an Indian firm which said the machines were equipped with technology that was designed to eliminate flaws and address the scepticism of some political parties questioning the transparency of that country’s electoral body.

    The machines have features such as candidates’ photos, political parties together with other information next to the casting button. Voters will just have to click on their preferred candidate or party during elections to vote.

    India also successfully used half-a-million EVMs of the same type during its 2009 general elections.

    The EVM was used to choose 96 members of Namibia’s National Assembly and one of nine presidential candidates, ranging from the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters to the white minority Republican Party. About1.2 million Namibians reportedly cast their ballots at nearly 4,000 electronic voting stations across the country.

  • Polls: Obiano, PDP trade blames

    Polls: Obiano, PDP trade blames

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are trading blames over what transpired during last weekend’s elections.

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) said it would challenge the National Assembly results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the election petitions tribunal.

    Briefing reporters yesterday in Awka, Obiano, represented by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Chief Tony Onyima, said the result did not reflect the will of the people.

    The party described it as a monumental electoral injustice and urged INEC to redress the situation.

    The Chairman of Election Operations Committee of the PDP in the state, Chief Ken Emeakayi, said Governor Obiano and APGA should accept defeat in good faith, as the result showed that Ndi Anambra rejected APGA.

    He told reporters that APGA should realise that the people had never supported it, rather their support was for former Governor Peter Obi, Uche Ekwunife and others, who had defected from APGA to PDP.