By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Resident Electoral Commissioner , (REC) in Oyo state, Barrister Mutiu Agboke has declared that Electronic voting system has come to stay in Nigeria electoral process
Featuring on Fresh FM 105.9 Ibadan, Situation Room tagged ” INEC & Nation Building” monitored by the New Nigerian, the INEC REC hinted that there will be no going back in the adoption of E-voting .
Barrister Agboke maintained that was nothing like the commission getting clearance from the NCC to transmit election results as been suggested in certain quarter as such a suggestion was a mere after thought.
The Oyo state INEC REC stressed that the commission is always in close contact with key stakeholders in the election processes and on top of the situation when it comes to the issue of E-voting.
He emphasized that the issue of no network to transmit election results been raised in some quarters was a lame excuse to frustrate electronic voting system by the commission, saying, in making use of electronic voting in the past elections, INEC had been finding its way in transmitting its results,
According to Barrister Agboke, all you need to do is to move from where you are to where there is network and then transmit the election results.
Commenting on the position of the National Assembly on E-Voting, Barrister Agboke declared it was not actionable on the commission as INEC being a creation of law and had its statutory duty. except the power of the commission’s statutory duty is taking away from it by law , ” no individual can take it from the commission.
The Oyo INEC REC stated that the commission’s websites were well protected and cannot be hacked thereby making the E-voting system and other processes of the commission reliable.
Speaking on the Voter Registration exercise, Barrister Agboke disclosed that the exercise is again starting this Monday and expected to end in December this year in Oyo state.
He declared that of the people that applied for the card in Oyo State, over 19, 000 have completed while 72, 644 applicants are yet to complete their registration.
