Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufai said the use of technology is the key to minimizing cheating in elections and that unless cheating is removed in elections, the country will never have credible and accountable leaders.
He stated this in an interview shortly after casting his vote at the 001 polling centre, Unguwan Sarki, Kaduna.
According to the Governor, his administration does not believe in cheating or rigging elections and that they do not believe that others should cheat them too, hence, the need for the State Electoral Commission, SIECOM to come up with a full proof system.
“That is why we are committed to this even if we lose in some areas, it’s ok, it’s democracy, it’s a destination”, he emphasized.
“I think INEC is looking at the experiment in Kaduna very closely, they were observers in 2018 and they sent a team to look at what we are doing in 2021”.
On the new electronic machine, he said, there is significant improvement over the 2018 LGA elections. “The improved voting machines we now have makes it nearly impossible to do multiple voting which happened a lot in 2018”.
The Governor disclosed that the voting machine allows people to activate their cards and then vote, adding that, the whole process takes less than 15 seconds.
El-Rufai described the process as quick and efficient. “You get to see your ballot paper being printed which will be counted in case the tally electronically by the voting machine is not agreeable to all the party”.
“So we are very happy with the improvement and we are pleased that this time, it will be difficult for anyone to rig the elections”.
“The machines also transmits the results at the end of the voting to a server, a backup on a USB as well as printed copies for all the parties and the security agencies. So it is very difficult to alter anything”, he stressed.
The Governor assured of his administration’s commitment to ensuring free and fair elections in Kaduna, said, he is unlike other parties or Governors where the ruling party wins everything.
“We will allow the people of Kaduna State elect who they want, we do not have to win everywhere. We know that we have worked for the people of Kaduna State, they can see the footprints of the government and local government everywhere and we are confident that all reasonable and fair minded people will vote for the APC and their candidates because they know
that, they are committed to improving the welfare of the people”.
Dominica Nwabufo
