Unilorin VC seeks e-voting for national elections

From Olanrewaju Lawal,Ilorin

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, has advocated for the adoption of the electronic voting system for national elections in the country.

Ambali who stated this during the swearing in of the new Post Graduate Students Association (POGSASS), Executive Committee members elected last December through the electronic voting system, said the system would be the best for Nigeria electoral system.

The electronic voting was adopted seven months ago by the University of Ilorin Students’ Union (SUG) for the first time in Nigeria and was adjudged successful.

The Unilorin Postgraduate Students Association (POGSASS), has also adopted the system for it election and it was successful.

The Vice-Chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof. Yisa Fakunle, noted that Nigeria is ripe for e-voting, stressing that the simplicity of the system, which Unilorin has successfully used twice, easily recommends it for use at the national level.

He said, “Nigeria is ripe for e-voting. The University of Ilorin has done it twice. If units within a country can successfully do it, there is no reason why we cannot do it nationally.”

He pointed out that the national electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (ÍNEC), “can come and see how we do it and see the one that is applicable to them.”

The Vice-Chancellor said, “It is very simple. The process is done in this way – You have your name and voters’ registration number; all of them are going to be uploaded. You are the only one who has that card different from my own. So, when you open the portal, the way we do it here, you pick with your name and then click on “Yes” or “No”. Nobody can open the portal and vote on your behalf. You are the only one who can do so. In the case of Nigeria, if the machine requires electricity they need to ensure that there is electricity at the time of the exercise and that should be no problem; with the amount of resources we have in this country there should be no problem at all.”