The
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can currently boast of the use
of Electronic Card Reader otherwise known as ‘Smart card reader’ during
elections in Nigeria. Since the inception of the INEC in the Nigeria’s
political terrain, the leadership of the institution had been working
assiduously toward ensuring that the country could boast of a credible and fair
election. This may be the reason the former Chairman of the commission, Prof
Attahiru Jega thought it wise to initiate the Smart Card Reader prior to the
last general elections, which has been in use till date.
Though Prof Jega may have succeeded in
coming up with a novel idea by introducing the aforementioned gadget, it’s
worth noting that the current boss of the body, Prof Mahmood Yakubu has an
enormous task ahead of him towards ensuring that the said laudable invention
wouldn’t end up being a curse in disguise.
It’s not anymore news that the ongoing use
of the device in question has been bedeviled by several shortcomings to include
malfunctioning, inadequate power supply and what have you. The INEC,
inaugurated in 1998, has since inception encountered too many controversies and
predicaments in the run up to elections in the country, most notably the April
2007 and 2015 general elections respectively; the ongoing challenges faced by
the use of card readers seem to have added to the numerous plights of the
commission.
A Smart card reader is an electronic
device that reads smart cards such as the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card and
Voter’s card, as the case may be. There are so many forms of smart card readers
used for different purposes. In the banking industry, we have smart card readers
that read the ATM cards. But here, we’re concerned about the electoral smart
card reader. The electoral smart card reader is a portable electronic voter
authentication gadget, configured to read only the Permanent Voter’s Cards
(PVCs) issued by the INEC.
The device, which displays the authentic
information of the prospective voter via the use of fingerprint, was designed
specifically for the accreditation process or authentication of eligible voters
before voting. The machine is usually configured or programmed to only read the
PVCs of a particular polling unit as well as work only on election day(s). The
card reader has obviously helped in confirming the eligibility of the
prospective voters. It has equally assisted in checking excesses as regards double/multiple
registration.
Among all, it enables the electoral
exercise to be carried out faster since it can accredit as many intending
voters as possible within a shortest interval; suffice it to say that it saves
time. In addition, it enables the officials of the INEC to conduct the election
easily or at ease unlike the manual system whereby the personnel would be
required to put in or exhaust all their energies, thereby creating room for
effectiveness and efficiency. This implies that, if properly utilized, it
warrants the electoral umpire to engage fewer individuals or ad-hoc staff for any
incoming election. Hence, the card reader isn’t just labour effective, but
equally cost effective.
Although the benefits inherent in the use
of the smart card reader cannot be overemphasized, it’s worthy to acknowledge
that the challenges that accompany it cannot be overlooked if truly we are
concerned about embracing a society that can wholly boast of free, fair and
credible polls. It’s not anymore news that, while in use, the card reader has
reportedly malfunctioned in various quarters across the federation ever since
it came into existence in Nigeria, thereby making the INEC officials in charge
of the concerned polling units to resort to manual voting.
To this end, there’s need for creation of
a special technically-inclined unit within the INEC quarters. Such
unit/department to be manned by an expert must contain all it takes as regards
servicing or sustenance of the said gadget. The unit would go a long way to
eradicate ‘fire brigade’ approach, which isn’t unusual in the Nigerian society.
It would as well help to create a mobile technical committee that would monitor
the functionality of the card readers throughout any election as well as ensure
that the various polling units involved are well equipped with the needed
materials including electricity supply gadgets prior to the election. There
would also be need for the unit to be more concerned about providing special
electronic chargers or charging devices at the various voting centres so that
the card readers wouldn’t need to depend on power supply as long as the voting
lasts.
Above all, there is need for the device
to be manufactured in the country henceforth. There are capable hands that can
actualize it; all the government needs to do is to empower them via the
proposed technical unit. We can’t continue to import what we can produce,
especially at this moment we are concerned about diversification. I therefore
call on INEC to embrace the fullness of technology so that the awaited society
would be embraced soonest. Think about it!
Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor
(TheMediaAmbassador)
-ICT/Engineering
Consultant, Researcher, Blogger, Analyst & Activist-
Founder/CEO, Docfred
(Nig.) Ent._________________________________
http://frednwaozor.blogspot.com
Twitter: @mediambassador
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