A former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, has recommended three approaches for the Independent National Electoral Commission to make the nations electoral reform achieve its desired objective.
Agagu, who spoke with journalists on Sunday, noted that past elections in the country did not represent the wishes of the electorate due to the human factor.
The former governor, therefore, stressed the need to have a computerised system of registration and voting through a direct data collation machines which should be installed at every polling unit.
The machine, according to him, will collect the data of each voter, which will be stored and retrieved on the voting day to eliminate impersonation and multiple voting.
He also said the machine would eliminate incidences of fake registration and over voting because only those whose particulars appeared in the registers would be allowed to vote.
By this, the actual number of the voting population would be captured for the exercise, he added.
Agagu also said the deployment of adequate and armed security personnel to man the machines on the election day was very important.
He said, There should be an adequate security to man each of these units to prevent the machines from being stolen by hoodlums on the payroll of frustrated politicians, who may wish to sabotage the system through violence.
Desperate politicians may want to disrupt the system by destroying the machines in the units where they could not have their way to reduce the strength of the opposition.
This also should be discouraged by having enough security around these places, he added.
Agagu maintained that his suggestions would stop desperate politicians from undermining the system by corrupting the system through bribery and deployment of filthy lucre.
The third approach, which is adequate sensitization of electorates, he said, should be carried out by credible politicians and community leaders.
There should be adequate publicity and enlightenment of the voting population to take part in the election by registering and voting on Election Day so that the field will not be left for hoodlums and party people, he added.
Source: Sunday Aborisade, Punch Newspaper, Ibadan.
Agagu, who spoke with journalists on Sunday, noted that past elections in the country did not represent the wishes of the electorate due to the human factor.
The former governor, therefore, stressed the need to have a computerised system of registration and voting through a direct data collation machines which should be installed at every polling unit.
The machine, according to him, will collect the data of each voter, which will be stored and retrieved on the voting day to eliminate impersonation and multiple voting.
He also said the machine would eliminate incidences of fake registration and over voting because only those whose particulars appeared in the registers would be allowed to vote.
By this, the actual number of the voting population would be captured for the exercise, he added.
Agagu also said the deployment of adequate and armed security personnel to man the machines on the election day was very important.
He said, There should be an adequate security to man each of these units to prevent the machines from being stolen by hoodlums on the payroll of frustrated politicians, who may wish to sabotage the system through violence.
Desperate politicians may want to disrupt the system by destroying the machines in the units where they could not have their way to reduce the strength of the opposition.
This also should be discouraged by having enough security around these places, he added.
Agagu maintained that his suggestions would stop desperate politicians from undermining the system by corrupting the system through bribery and deployment of filthy lucre.
The third approach, which is adequate sensitization of electorates, he said, should be carried out by credible politicians and community leaders.
There should be adequate publicity and enlightenment of the voting population to take part in the election by registering and voting on Election Day so that the field will not be left for hoodlums and party people, he added.
Source: Sunday Aborisade, Punch Newspaper, Ibadan.
