Nigeria: Electoral Commission Explains Why It Rejects Solar-Powered E-Voting Machine | Information Nigeria

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has rejected the solar-powered electronic voting machine made by the National Agency of Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), after the INEC chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud. According to sources at the meeting, held behind closed doors, expressed fears that the machine could fail in the middle of the exercise and cause problems, leading to litigation against the commission.The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has rejected the solar-powered electronic voting machine made by the National Agency of Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), after the INEC chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud, according to sources at the meeting, held behind closed doors, expressed fears that the machine could fail in the middle of the exercise and cause problems, leading to litigation against the commission.

Nigeria: Electoral Commission bars journalists from presentation of e-voting machine | Nigerian Tribune

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Thursday, barred journalists from covering the official presentation of electronic voting machine to the commission by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu. The solar powered electronic voting machine, which was developed by the National Agency of Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), an agency under the supervision of Dr Onu, was to address the numerous challenges bedeviling Nigeria during the general elections.

Nigeria: Science ministry unveils locally made electronic voting machine | The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper – Nigeria and World News

Federal Ministry of Science and Technology has unveiled an electronic voting machine locally made by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI). The Minister, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, disclosed that the machine would eliminate the challenges associated with electronic voting in the country. He listed the challenges to include delay in logistics, distribution of electoral materials, ballot box snatching and disparity in results collated at polling centres with those announced by the electoral body. The minister expressed satisfaction with the performance of the machine, which was presented yesterday at NASENI headquarters. Onu added that the machine would also eliminate rigging in elections and allow the choice of the electorate to be upheld.

Nigeria: How electronic voting will change the face of Nigeria’s future general elections | Ventures Africa

On the 31st of March, 2017, the Nigerian Senate passed the Electoral Act No. 6 2010 (Amendment) Bill 2017 into law. This bill gives the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the power to conduct Electronic Voting (E-voting). … The bill raises the question of Nigeria’s readiness to plunge into this new technology-based terrain. Proponents of the bill are inclined to believe that it will give credibility to our elections while cynics think Nigeria is yet to come to terms with using this technology for elections. These positions may have been gathered from INEC’s performance with the voter’s card readers during the last general elections in 2015 when INEC decided to adopt smart card readers for voters’ accreditation.

Nigeria: Senate amends electoral act, approves electronic voting | YNaija

The Senate Thursday passed amendments to the Electoral Act 2010, approving the use of electronic voting in future elections. It also approved that election results should be electronically transmitted to collation centers. The passage of bill followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on a Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act No. 6, 2010 and for other related matters (SB 231 and SB 234). Major highlights of the new bill include provision for the use of electronic voting by INEC during future elections, use of Card Reader and also gives INEC power to modify the voting process if there is a challenge.

Nigeria: Electoral Commission constitutes diaspora voting, electoral constituencies committees | BusinessDay

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has constituted a 10-member committee on the Review of Diaspora or Out-of-Country Voting. Also constituted, according to the commission’s daily bulletin issued on Tuesday in Abuja are eight-member committee for the Review of Electoral Constituencies and committee for Review of Polling Units and Registration Areas. It said that other committees set up included those on Review of the Suppressed Constituencies and Review of GIS Laboratory. The commission explained that the committees were constituted as part of its effort at improving the electoral process, adding that the committees were chaired by its National Commissioners.

Nigeria: Is e-voting in Nigeria the way to go? | Techpoint

It is no longer news that Nigerians have a huge distrust in the country’s electoral process. The former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega in a statement before the 2015 general elections, listed insecurity, funding, apathetic and inactive citizenry among others as a few of the many challenges the election process in Nigeria faces. However, the citizens cannot be blamed. The inability of the country to run a transparent, free and fair election has made many Nigerians indifferent and inactive. During the 2015 general elections, INEC, in an attempt to run a transparent election introduced the use of digital card readers and electronic fingerprint readers. But that was only possible because the Section 52 of the electoral act of 2010, which had prohibited the use of technology in voting was reformed in 2015. INEC chose the electronic readers as its first step in the introduction of technology into the voting process. Although that was advantageous to the election process, it had many flaws, which eventually led to the extension of the election dates.

Nigeria: Solar-Powered Electronic Voting Machine Developed for 2019 Elections | The Guardian Nigeria

Nigeria has recorded a scientific breakthrough with the local manufacture of an electronic voting machine designed to eliminate all problems associated with existing ones. Presenting the innovation to the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu in Abuja yesterday, the Executive Vice Chairman of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Professor Mohammed Haruna said the device is a solar-powered EMV with cloud-based collation of election results. According to Haruna, the device does not store data, thus making it useless to anyone who snatches it. He explained: once the device receives data in form of voting, it sends it to the central electronic system of the electoral body from where it can be viewed online.

Nigeria: Independent National Electoral Commission Seeks Review of Law Prohibiting Full Electronic Voting | allAfrica.com

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called for a review of the law prohibiting electronic voting in Nigeria. Acting Chairman of INEC, Hajia Amina Zakari, made this call on Tuesday at the Post 2015 Electoral Reform Symposium organised by the National Democratic Institute and other Civil Society Organisations. She argued that technology has become an unavoidable reality in everyday life and that it played a major role in the success recorded in the 2015 general elections. The introduction of the Card Reader by the immediate past INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, was said to have minimized massive rigging and electoral irregularities during the 2015 general elections.

Nigeria: Voting Right for Nigerians in Diaspora Soon – Osinbajo | allAfrica.com

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says voting right will soon be extended to Nigerians in Diaspora. Osinbajo stated this while declaring open a two-day 2015 Diaspora Day Conference organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation yesterday in Abuja. “Our electoral process is evolving and as greater confidence is built in the institutions and processes associated with it, we may then create voting opportunities for our citizens abroad in the not too distant future”, he said.

Nigeria: Smartphones Galvanized Nigeria’s Younger Voters | VoA News

Of the more than 175 million people who live in Nigeria, 70 percent of them are young. And among those millions are more than 125 million mobile phone subscribers, the largest such market in Africa. So, as Nigeria turned to a crucial national election last month, a group of political activists selected a smartphone application might galvanize a few million of those citizens and guarantee a free and fair election in a nation not known for its transparency. Yemi Adamolekun is one of those who tapped that demographic with technology. Dressed in T-shirt and a trousers of Ankara fabric, Adamolekun walked briskly into Terra Kulture, a bookstore located in the high-brow area in Lagos State. Her simple clothing style and a natural hairdo underscore her no-nonsense approach to national affairs.

Nigeria: Social media helps curb Nigerian election deathtoll, paving future path | PCWorld

The dozens of deaths that marred the recent Nigerian elections would be considered shocking by the standards of most developed nations. Compared to past elections, however, the violence this time around was limited, and many observers say social media and technology such as biometric card readers played a big role in minimizing conflict. Online services are credited with keeping people informed during the runup to the elections, promoting the feeling they could communicate and express their views without resorting to violence, and other technology helped to ensure cheating would be kept to a minimum. Nigeria’s experience suggests that tech can play a role in reducing election-related violence in other countries.

Nigeria: Election Commission Accused of Helping Opposition | VoA News

A spokesman for Nigeria’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Independent National Elections Commission (INEC) of colluding with security agencies in deciding last Saturday’s gubernatorial elections in some PDP strongholds in favor of the All Progressives Congress Party (APC). Olisa Metuh, national publicity secretary of the PDP, said INEC officials and security agencies aided APC supporters in Abia, Imo, Plateau, and Zamfara states. Election commission officials were not immediately available for comment. Of the results announced so far, the APC has won 21 of Nigeria’s 36 states to 12 for the PDP. The results in Abia and Imo states have been declared inclusive.

Nigeria: Muhammadu Buhari’s Party Retains Lagos Control, Amid Election Violence And Low Voter Turnout | International Business Times

Nigerian president-elect Muhammadu Buhari’s political party retained the Lagos state governorship, the country’s electoral commission said Sunday. Amid violence that marred weekend polling, Buhari’s All Progressives Congress consolidated the new president’s power by gaining control of the commercial capital, Reuters reported. The results mean it will be the first time since the end of Nigerian military rule in 1999 the governor of the capital and the president are from the same party. However, election observers said Buhari’s party reached that milestone with low voter turnout, compared to last month’s presidential vote that saw President Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat.

Nigeria: Nigeria Opposition Predicts Gubernatorial Election Victory | VoA News

A spokesman for Nigeria’s All Progressives Congress (APC) says the party has momentum on its side ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election. Shehu Garba says the success of the party and its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, in the March 28 presidential election, is drawing nationwide support from other opposition parties to the APC in the run-up to the vote. He says the APC expects the security agencies to be neutral but ensure the protection of unarmed civilians. Garba says the party is ready to capitalize on its success in the recent presidential vote to defeat the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) gubernatorial candidates across the country.

Nigeria: How new technology drove Buhari’s campaign | The News

Technology played a decisive role in helping Muhammadu Buhari become the first Nigerian to oust a sitting president at the ballot box, from social media campaigning to biometric machines preventing the widespread rigging that marred past polls. Three decades after seizing power in a military coup, part of the 72-year-old former general’s appeal to the electorate in Africa’s biggest economy lay in his successful rebranding as a man who embraced democracy. A good deal of that rebranding happened online, where campaigning from smartphones can build momentum at low cost.

Nigeria: Buhari praises Jonathan for peaceful handover | Reuters

Nigerian election winner Muhammadu Buhari congratulated outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan for peacefully relinquishing power on Wednesday, a day after becoming the first Nigerian politician to unseat a sitting leader at the ballot box. In an unprecedented step, Jonathan phoned Buhari to concede defeat and issued a statement urging his supporters to accept the result, a signal of deepening democracy in Africa’s most populous nation that few had expected. “President Jonathan was a worthy opponent and I extend the hand of fellowship to him,” Buhari told journalists and supporters to loud applause, wearing a black cap and kaftan.

Nigeria: Boko Haram failed to disrupt Nigeria elections: UN | AFP

Boko Haram was unable to disrupt elections in Nigeria but its allegiance to Islamic State shows the group has an agenda that reaches well beyond Africa’s most populous country, a UN envoy said Monday. Mohammad ibn Chambas, the UN envoy for West Africa, told the Security Council that while Boko Haram fighters staged attacks on election day in Bauchi state, northeast Nigeria, “they didn’t have an impact on the voting process. Boko Haram was unable to disrupt the electoral process,” he told the 15-member council.

Nigeria: Fears of Meddling Raised in Nigerian Election Vote Count | Associated Press

Election officials worked into the night Monday counting the results from Nigeria’s tight presidential vote, while the U.S. and Britain warned of “disturbing indications” the tally could be subject to political interference. Early returns gave former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari seven states while incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan had five, including the Federal Capital Territory. But results from another 25 states were still to be tallied, and 22 states had not yet delivered their results to the counting center in Abuja, indicating a winner could not be announced before Tuesday. As expected, Buhari swept two major northern states of Kano and Kaduna, delivering crushing defeats to Jonathan there. In Kano, the state with the second-largest number of voters, Buhari had 1.9 million votes to Jonathan’s 216,000.

Nigeria: Voting extended after tech problem hits polling stations | Financial Times

Tensions were building in Nigeria on Sunday as partial results from presidential elections, posted unofficially on the internet, raised expectations of an unprecedented opposition victory for former military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari. Aides to President Goodluck Jonathan insisted the incumbent was still on course to secure the result and cautioned against numbers that had yet to be given a final stamp of approval by the Independent National Electoral Commission. “There is lots of hype and both sides are selectively putting up things on line. But we have been collecting results from units across the country,” said Deameari Von Kemedi, a lead campaigner for Mr Jonathan. “According to our own internal projections, although we do not have the complete picture yet, we project a Jonathan victory.”

Nigeria: The Independent Nigerian Electoral Commission’s Website Has Been Hijacked | TechCabal

The Nigerian presidential elections are in full swing. And as if the Independent Nigerian Electoral Commission doesn’t have enough things to worry about, their website just got hacked by some people calling themselves the Nigerian Cyber Army. As is customary, there is a rambling signature left by the hackers, in place of the usual website. It’s not like the website is essential to the elections or anything. Their software and servers are likely not pointed to that url. This, as far as I can tell, has absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the election, which is more physical than digital. It’s more of egg on their face. We are reaching out to INEC for comment. “Sorry x0 Your Site has been STAMPED by TeaM Nigerian Cyber Army. FEEL SOME SHAME ADMIN!!”, the hackers said on the defaced site.

Nigeria: Turning to Tech to Battle Legacy of Electoral Fraud | Bloomberg

Nigeria’s electoral commission says it has found a means to fight fraud that has marred votes repeatedly in Africa’s most populous nation: technology. While its decision to use biometric voter-card readers in general elections starting March 28 is favored by Muhammadu Buhari’s opposition alliance, President Goodluck Jonathan’s ruling People’s Democratic Party, which has won every election in Africa’s biggest oil producer since the end of military rule in 1999, is crying foul. All of the previous elections were marred by ballot stuffing, multiple and underage voting, and falsification of figures, according to local and international monitors. About 800 people died in violence in 2011 after Buhari lost to Jonathan and said the result was rigged.

Nigeria: Will Card Readers Work? Electoral Commission Responds To Concerns Over Voter Disenfranchisement, Delays | IB Times

Fears were mounting this week in Nigeria about whether polling places’ voter card readers would work correctly during Saturday’s presidential election. Several politicians had expressed concern that mechanical malfunctions could lead to disenfranchisement, but the Independent National Electoral Commission promised stakeholders Tuesday that the card readers would not fail. “I want to assure all prospective voters in Ebonyi that no person with Permanent Voter Card (PVC) will be denied the opportunity to vote,” said resident electoral commissioner Lawrence Azubuike, according to Vanguard. “Once the PVC is verified and certified correct, even if the authentication of the voter’s fingerprint does not go through, the voter will still go ahead to vote.”

Nigeria: Electronic glitches hobble Nigerian vote; polling extended to Sunday | Los Angeles Times

Nigerian’s electoral commission extended voting to Sunday in a president election plagued by polling place delays and glitches in a new electronic voter accreditation system. The balloting was also marred by violence, with seven voters killed in Gombe state by suspected Boko Haram gunmen, according to local residents, and attacks on electoral officials in the volatile Rivers State. Widespread problems were reported with the new biometric card readers aimed at identifying voters’ thumb prints before actual balloting began, As a result, voting was delayed for hours. The Independent National Electoral Commission agreed to extend voting to Sunday at polling places where there had been failures in the biometric system. The election commission acknowledged that the equipment had failed in many areas and voter accreditation had been too slow. “The commission reassures the public that it will thoroughly investigate what happened while it stays committed to credible elections,” the board said in a statement Saturday.

Nigeria: Elections in the Season of Fear | allAfrica.com

On Saturday (March 28, 2015), Nigerians will once again troop to the polls to choose who among the several contestants vigorously campaigning and scheming out there would be their president and members of the Senate and House of Representatives for the next four years. In several other countries, including even some of our smaller and leanly-endowed neighbours here, election periods usually provide the populace pleasant opportunities to savour the excitement of democracy. People go to the polls with beaming faces exchanging pleasantries and banters while waiting to cast their votes. They are not gripped by any benumbing fear that some daredevil thugs might swoop on the voting centres to shoot into the air, snatch away ballot boxes, and, possibly, wound or even kill some people in the process. Even the contestants would just come to the voting centres with little or no security and without any fanfare, unobtrusively cast their votes like every other person. And as they return to their homes, they are not looking over their shoulders to see if some killers hired by their opponents are trailing them to eliminate them.

Nigeria: Court bars military from deploying around polling stations | Reuters

The Nigerian federal high court in Lagos has barred the military from deploying around polling stations during March 28 national elections, the lawyer for the parliamentarian who brought the case said on Tuesday. Opposition leader Femi Gbajabiamila argued a deployment would violate the constitution, lawyer Ijeoma Njemanze said, amid opposition fears that soldiers may intimidate voters or tamper with ballot boxes. The ruling, made on Monday by Justice Ibrahim Buba, does not affect troops already dispatched to northeast Nigeria, where Islamists have waged a six-year insurgency, she added.

Nigeria: Braced for tense election countdown | Deutsche Welle

Africa’s biggest economy and oil producer – stepped up security in its capital Abuja on Monday, deploying soldiers and putting up barricades before Saturday’s election. DW’s correspondent in Abuja, Ben Shemang, said soldiers, police and even plainclothes security operatives were to be seen at the barricades. “Sometimes they do stop-and-search,” he said. A spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the government “needs to give citizens a sense of protection.” But political analyst Anselm Okolo told the German news agency dpa there was no reason for the deployment of soldiers “other than intimidation of opponents of President Jonathan.”

Nigeria: Why won’t Nigeria let foreign journalists cover its elections? | The Telegraph

I was looking forward to being in Nigeria this weekend, writing a preview for the presidential elections at the end of the month. Not the way every Telegraph reader might want to spend their weekend, I grant you, but by foreign correspondents’ standards, it’s a Premier League fixture. The contest will decide who rules West Africa’s most important country, and in the wake of last year’s kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram, the wider world will be following it in a way they never used to. Sadly, if it’s on-the-ground reportage you want, don’t come to me. Or The Times or Channel 4 News. Or any of the 20-odd other British media outlets that have asked for press visas to cover the elections, and whose applications still languish in a pile at the Nigerian High Commission in London. (Fee £300, non-returnable.)

Nigeria: Election Commission To Use Coded Color Ballot Papers, Boxes For Polls | Naija247news

Segun Agbaje, the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the ‎Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC‎), has revealed that the commission would not go back on the use of three different coded colors for the 2015 general elections to be held March 28 and April 11. The three colors, red, green and black, are meant for use in next week’s presidential, House of Representatives and Senate elections. ‎Mr. Agbaje made the disclosures today at a stakeholders’ forum in Akure, the Ondo State capital. He explained that the innovation was part of the commission’s efforts to avoid rigging and stressful sorting of ballots papers after the conclusion of voting.

Nigeria: Election Agency Says It’s Ready for Credible Vote | Reuters

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission is set to hold credible elections starting March 28 after delaying the ballots by six weeks, its Chairman Attahiru Jega said. “We believe we have done everything humanly possible to be able to conduct elections that are free, fair, credible and peaceful,” Jega told reporters on Monday in the capital, Abuja. “We are adequately prepared.” Out of 68.8 million people on the electoral register, 56 million, or 81 percent, have collected voter cards, from 67.8 million printed for national distribution, he said.