Nigeria is expected to adopt electronic voting for the 2023 election, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday, noted that the several logistics challenges associated with the adoption of the paper-based voting system in the 2019 general election may become overwhelming for the commission by the next general election.
INEC National Commissioner, Mr Adedeji Soyebi, who identified this imperative during a 2019 post-election review workshop, held at INEC office, Ibadan, said the commission will, by 2023, have to print about three million tonnes of papers and deal with an estimated 100 million voters spread across the length and breadth of the country.
Noting that the commission had to deal with several logistics issues in the conduct of the 2019 election, such as overestimation of its capacity and that of other stakeholders meant to convey electoral materials, Soyebi held that electronic-based voting was the practical solution to addressing the logistics and ecological implications of conducting the 2023 election using paper.