Why Nigeria may not embrace e-voting quickly – Senator Bashiru

By Adesina Wahab

A member of the ninth Senate, Dr. Ajibola Bashiru, has stated that it will take some time for Nigeria to adopt electronic voting, also known as e-voting, due to technological challenges and the need to exercise caution in its implementation.
This is just as he said: there is nowhere that elections are actually conducted 100 percent electronically.
He stated this in Lagos on Tuesday while delivering a lecture titled “Tech governance in 2025: Balancing innovation with responsibility”, at the 12th Prof. Adetokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe Memorial Anniversary, organized by the UNILAG Alumni Lagos State Branch.
Bashiru, who is currently the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, opined that while technology could help to improve the electoral process, the adoption had to be gradual because of some issues.
“Electronic voting remains a potential tool that could be used to enhance the electoral process, but it should be done with vigilance. There’s no society where the electoral process and voting are entirely electronic. I monitored the last election in the United States, and there was still a need to do certain things manually.
“In our country, inadequate power supply, lack of Internet connectivity, cybercrime are among things that may make e-voting take a while to be adopted. It is also not that the process is 100 percent foolproof, software to use can be written in a way to manipulate the process. But that does not mean we cannot make attempt. We must think of addressing the challenges. My party, the All Progressives Congress is already working on e-registration of members,” he said.
He also urged higher institutions in the country to capitalize on the advances that e-learning and technology have brought to the education sector.
The Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, noted that while the Internet and Artificial Intelligence are helping to make teaching and learning easier, school administrators should ensure that they are breeding students who have actually learned, rather than those who are deceiving society.
She thanked the alumni association for its support, adding that no university can grow without its alumni.
The Chairman of the Lagos State Branch of the Alumni Association, Hon. Owoeye Adedeji, stated that the event was organized to recognize the invaluable contributions of Sofoluwe, who was the 10th VC of the institution.
He added that the branch also used the occasion to raise some funds to assist some departments as a way of giving back to the university.

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