Electoral Act Amendment: Women support inclusion of electronic transmission of results
The League of Women Voters of Nigeria (NILOW) has declared support for the inclusion of electronic transmission of results in the ongoing review of the Electoral Act, 2010.
The Founder and President of the league, Dame Esther Uduehi, made the declaration at a news conference on the amendment of the electoral act, on Thursday in Abuja.
She said that transmission of election results by electronic means was not only sacrosanct but a sine qua non to credible elections.
She emphasised that inclusion of electronic transmission of results in the electoral act would in clear terms rid collation process of the manipulations, juggling of figures and the outright fraud.
Uduehi said the deployment of the Z-PAD and the election result viewing portal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2020 governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states demonstrated the effectiveness of technology.
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“The results from those elections were adjudged by most stakeholders as true reflection of the will of the people,’’ she said.
She, therefore, called on the National Assembly to pass an electoral bill that conformed to global best practices and reflect the wish of the masses.
Uduehi also appealed to NASS to make special provision and waivers for women to encourage women’s participation generally in politics.
She noted that women were critical stakeholders in the electoral value chain and had contributed immensely toward the growth of the nation’s democracy.
She said that the humongous amount stipulated for campaign funds were not only outrageous but unfriendly for women.
“Jacking up the figure stipulated for campaigns from President to other elective offices has already disenfranchised majority of women, who have aspirations to political offices because they might not be able to meet the huge financial obligations.
“Our mission is to educate and mobilise Nigerian women to able them play a larger role in governance, public matters, public affairs to defend and perfect Nigeria’s democracy,” she said.
The president of the league of women voters advocated for also inclusion of independent candidates in the Constitutional and Electoral Act Amendment
