A former senator, Dr. Ajibola Bashiru, has said Nigeria will take time before fully adopting electronic voting due to technological limitations and the need for caution.
Speaking in Lagos on Tuesday, August 19, Bashiru delivered a lecture titled “Tech governance in 2025: Balancing innovation with responsibility” at the 12th Prof. Adetokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe Memorial Anniversary, organised by the UNILAG Alumni Lagos State Branch.
Bashiru, who now serves as the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, argued that while technology could strengthen elections, it must be introduced gradually.
“Electronic voting remains a potential tool that could be used to enhance the electoral process, but it should be done with vigilance.
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“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,” he said.
He added, “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 added.