ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY AND ELECTION CREDIBILITY IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
It is not an exaggeration to state that Technology has become indispensable in the 21st Century as it enhances the effectiveness and efficiency in every aspect of human endeavours. Technology is regarded and seen very important owing to the fact that it plays crucial roles in the management of modern days organizations. This is because modern Organizations rely solely on technical solutions for the day to day running of organizational activities. Suffice it to say that many organizations in this 21st Century have decided to employ Technologies for smooth running of their daily operations. To Rabindra (2012), the effective use of technology allows organization to increase productivity, cut costs, improving efficiency as well as providing better customer services. It should be further stressed that employees can work efficiently and effectively when exposed to the use of modern technological gadgets and Nigeria’s Election Management Body (EMB) is not an exception to the above fact.
Fundamentally, election remains one of the most important attributes of democracy if a country wants to be recognized globally as it is central to competitive politics. Democracy represents among other things such as the rule of law, freedom of speech and expression, fundamental human rights, equality before the law and more importantly, freedom to vote and be voted for through competitive free, fair and credible elections. Therefore, the need for credible election becomes indispensible. In the opinion of Jinadu (2003), the future of any liberal democracy to stand the test of time, it must depend largely on the conduct of free and fair election and a responsible party system. However, Election to Bratton (2008) empowers and guarantees the people to choose among the candidates contesting for top political offices with clearly specified rules. This signifies a process of selecting those that represents a particular organ at a particular time by prospective members of the group at regular interval to protect the collective interests of the people without fear or favor. In the same vein, Omotola, (2010) opines that election guarantees political participation, competition, provide legal framework for smooth change of government between different competing groups.
However, the 2019 presidential election appears to be the most keenly contested in the history of elections in Nigeria because it was the second time the ruling part, All Progressive Congress (APC) in order to challenge the dominance of the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the polity. Indeed, according to Omotola (2013), the election became the only game in town, shaping and reshaping public discourse and political actions.
The use of electronic technology such as card readers at the 2019 general election in Nigeria has infused some level of transparency and credibility into Nigeria’s electoral process (Okonji, 2019). It was observed that when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced its plan to used electronic card reader machine for the February and March 2019 general elections, many Nigerians, especially politicians, vehemently opposed to it. They felt the country has not developed to a level where such technology can be employed for elections and what happened during 2015 elections should not repeat itself again. Besides, they felt the uses of electronic card reader would disrupt the entire electoral processes.
The public outcry that greeted the planned to adopt electronic card reader machines again was enough to discourage INEC from using it. However, because of INEC confidence in the efficacy of modern technologies in achieving quick results, coupled with its vision to transform the country’s electoral process from its old norms that was characterized by ballot box snatching and multiplicity of ballot tomb-printing, INEC went ahead and used the technology against all odds (Vanguard, 2019). However, many technology experts in Nigeria and outside, who monitored the elections are full of praises for INEC for insisting on the use of electronic card reader machines, saying it is the best thing that has ever happened to the Nigerian electoral process in the area of election transparency. They have called on the electoral umpire to introduce electronic card reader machines in subsequent elections, believing it is a sure way to achieve transparency and credibility in every election. Therefore, It is against the foregoing that this study assesses the role been played by the technology in the credibility of elections in Nigeria with specific emphasis on the 2019 general elections.
ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY AND ELECTION CREDIBILITY IN NIGERIA