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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved an amended electoral law allowing the electronic transfer of vote results during the 2023 elections. This is effected in a bid to improve transparency. Elections in Nigeria have often been marred by electoral fraud claims and court challenges since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved an amended electoral law allowing the electronic transfer of vote results during the 2023 elections. This is effected in a bid to improve transparency. Elections in Nigeria have often been marred by electoral fraud claims and court challenges since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999.
The bill allows the INEC election commission to authorise the electronic transmission of voting results and the electronic registration of voter identities to help prevent fraud.
A dispute over the electronic transfer of votes erupted in the Senate last year. The ruling APC party said INEC could only manage the electronic ballot transfer with the national telecoms commission. It did not go well with the opposition, which said the move would undermine the independence of INEC. The Senate later voted to allow INEC to decide.
Buhari, who was first elected in 2015, had initially rejected the new law over its inclusion of primaries to choose candidates, claiming it would infringe on party bylaws and lead to insecurity during the polls. A former military ruler, he will step down after serving two four-year terms, and political leaders are already maneuvering for position before the February 2023 ballot. No clear candidate has yet emerged to replace Buhari, but the ruling APC party already has several hopefuls, including influential former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu.
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The country’s independent electoral commission INEC came under fire after Buhari’s re-election in 2019 over claims the ballot was not free or transparent. The opposition challenged the results in court in part because of concerns over the legality of the electronic transfer of tallies.
