Dr Ubani stated that “Africa continent has every reason to push for the deployment of technology in the electoral process for therein lies the salvation for the enthronement of the kind of leadership that Africa requires
The Chairman of NBA-SPIDEL, Dr Monday Ubani, has advised countries in the African continent to deploy technology in their various electoral laws to achieve the objective of electing the kind of leadership that will alter the narratives in the continent.
This advice was contained in a paper he presented as a panelist in the ongoing African Bar Association Conference taking place in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The session where the presentation was made had the topic “Good Governance – firming up the pillars of Good Governance in Africa: Building strong institutions as a critical factor”. It was chaired by Dr Samson Osagie, former Minority whip in the Federal House of Representatives in Nigeria.
In his intervention, Dr Ubani deepened the conversation by advocating that for African continent to throw up the kind of leadership that will remove the continent from woes and misery, the electoral system requires thorough sanitisation and re-engineering through reduction of human interference in the process.
“What that means is that technology should replace the human interface in certain critical area of our electoral system,” he said.
Ubani gave example with the new Electoral Act in Nigeria enacted in 2022 which identified Accreditation and Collation as areas where destructive disruption occurs and the new Act has deployed technology in those critical areas and the consequence is that Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and Transmission of Results from the polling Units to the Server of INEC are now part of the substantive law and Electoral Guidelines in the country.
Dr Ubani in his presentation pointed out that the Nigerian State has utilized the new Act in two elections recently, at the State level, and the effect is positive. “It is almost hundred per cent reflection of the mandate of the majority in favour of those who were elected,” he said.
The new Act, he pointed out, has rekindled peoples’ interest in participating in the electoral process in the country, thereby eliminating voter apathy that has been the bane in our democratic experience.
In his continental overview, he narrated that the deployment of technology in the electoral system in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and perhaps Kenyan’s election that is ongoing has led to opposition parties securing victory at the polls, a practice that was hitherto a taboo.
Dr Ubani urged the continent not to stop at the use of technology only in some aspects of the electoral process, he advised a wholesome adoption of technology starting from registration, to accreitation, voting, collation and announcement of results to the continent. In urging this, he is not ignorant of some teething problems peculiar to Africa but which effective governance will sort out in the long run.
In concluding Dr Ubani stated that “Africa continent has every reason to push for the deployment of technology in the electoral process for therein lies our salvation for the enthronement of the kind of leadership that Africa requires to drive the continent to development and progress.” “It is my extrapolation and I hope we all shall buy into this, and go back home with this idea that our policy makers, law makers, and the executives must agree to the wholesome application of technology in our electoral process”.
