Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu have called for reform of Nigeria’s electoral system.
Governor Wike called for transparency in elections by making sure all votes count, adding that the amendment of the Electoral Act by the National Assembly would be a mere charade if card readers would not be used to determine the validity of every vote cast.
Wike said in a televised interview in Port Harcourt, that most National Assembly members do abandon the Electoral Amendment Act, because he said they would be busy attending to their reelections.
“Why didn’t the president sign the last amendment Electoral Act, why?” he asked. “Because APC as a party has informed the president that if you sign this electoral amendment, you are likely to lose the election. Therefore, don’t sign it. And, of course, the president did not sign the Electoral Amendment Act,” he added.
The minister in a statement released by Josephine Ademu, press officer in the ministry, on Tuesday in Abuja called for the adoption of electronic voting to help eliminate errors caused by a human factor in compiling results.
The minister said with e-voting, election malpractices, fraud and less credible results would be eliminated.
