By Ebi Kesiena
69 percent of adult Nigerians nationwide have affirmed that electronic transmission of election results during elections will curb rigging during elections.
Recall that the National Assembly has finally approved e-voting, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also stating its readiness to introduce e-voting in 2023 and future elections.
A recent public opinion poll conducted by NOIPolls, revealed that 69 percent of Nigerians support the electronic transmission, stressing that it is more reliable, will bring about some sort of transparency during elections and also will reflect the true result of elections.
According to NOIPolls, this assertion cuts across gender, geo-political zones, and age-groups, with at least 62 percent representation from each category.
The survey also revealed that some Nigerians do not support the electronic transmission of election results, 50 percent believe that electronic transmission will not change the status quo, while 34 percent do not support it because they believe that the server will be hacked.
Another 10 percent believe that the country is not ready for electronic transmission of election results, while 6 percent stated that they prefer the old method of transmitting election results.
On Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) the study goes further to show that in the South East only 37 percent of Nigerians in that region are aware of CRV, while the North Central has more Nigerians, 56 percent who are aware of the exercise.
“The poll results have shown that 69 percent of Nigerians are in support of electronic transmission of elections results by INEC during elections as a significant proportion of Nigerians believe that it will bring about some sort of transparency, reduce rigging, 17 percent, save time and cost, as well as reduce election violence.
“On awareness, INEC should synergies with the National Orientation Agency, NOA and Civil Society Organizations to drive the process of enlightening the citizens, particularly those in the rural areas and those aged between 18 – 35 years, on the electoral processes and the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration as this report revealed that 50 percent of Nigerians claimed not to be aware of the ongoing Continuous Voter’s Registration.
“On the e-registration, Nigerians, during the survey, commended INEC for the introduction of the online registration mainly due to overcoming the distance barrier and enhancing smooth registration process,” it added.
However, the data collection organisation added that INEC needs to aggressively embark on further awareness campaigns across the country, improve on picture capturing, as this will go a long way in increasing the number of registered Nigerians.
