Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Nigeria has said that the country and other African countries should adopt the use of electronic voting, if they must achieve credible elections.
Jonathan, who now serves as the United Nations Special Envoy on Crisis Management, stated this on Wednesday while speaking on the presidential panel of the Osasu Show Symposium 2020.
He said, “To me, if Africa especially will move forward, it is not just about routine conducts of elections. This year alone in West Africa made up of 15 states, we have five states that had elections.
“So, in terms of regular elections, we are progressing, but are these elections credible? If they are representing a constitutional democratic setting is the issue.
“Regular elections, fine, but elections per se is not democracy. If the votes of the citizens don’t count, then it is as good as a military dictatorship. So for me, the reforms should first make votes count.
“And taking a critical examination at the way elections are conducted across the continent at least from the once I’ve observed, I’ve seen that the only way that we can get there is through electronic voting.
“People may feel, yes, someone could manipulate the system, get smart boys who can hack into the system and do all kinds of things, yes, but still people use electronic system to move hundreds of millions of dollars across the world. So, I still believe very sincerely that that is the way to go.”
Electoral malpractice and other forms of irregularities have often marred elections in Nigeria and other African countries.
