By Olukayode Idowu
The Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) has tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure the deployment and use of technological devices that are well-tested, protected from hacking, and replace malfunctioning ones for functioning during the 2023 General elections.
The association also asked INEC to ensure seamless operational and logistics arrangements to prevent delays in the opening and closing of the accreditation and voting process, and the counting, collation, and transmission of results.
This recommendation was contained in a communique issued at the weekend at the end of NPSA’s two-day roundtable discussion tagged “Attaining Electoral Integrity in 2023 General Elections: Pointers to Policy,” held in Abuja.
The Association asked INEC to map out areas of insecurity in the country based on levels of insecurity and levels of risks, through the Electoral Risk Management Tool [ERM Tool] it has developed and takes preventive measures with security agencies through its Inter-Agency Consultative Committee for Election Security (ECCES) to diminish the risks.
The association further called for vigorous voter education and related civic enlightenment programs on the electoral, particularly accreditation and voting process and the responsibility of the electorate and Nigerians generally to dispel and counter fake news and related misinformation about the elections, and to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections.
The political scholars observed the power of incumbency, including the deployment of security agencies and the full panoply of the power of the state at federal and state levels, abused with impunity for partisan, unfair electoral advantage ahead of the election
They held that Nigeria can have electoral integrity when the critical stakeholders respect the electoral laws guiding electoral conduct throughout the electoral cycle through which a collective will of the people is achieved, adding that “electoral integrity has a critical citizen-action content in the electoral process”.
NPSA President, Professor Hassan Salihu, who read the communique on behalf of the group noted that “electoral integrity also depends on the existence of real, impartial opportunities for addressing grievances.”
