Assessing the Effects of E-Governance and its Application by the Independent National Electoral Commission during the 2019 General Election in Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the effects of e-governance and its application by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2019 general election in Nigeria. Specifically, the study looked into the application of e-governance and modern technology in the conduct of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. It tried to look at the imports of technology in achieving set out goals by INEC. It also looked at the scope of e-governance and its advantages which have improved the quality of services of INEC, reduced paperwork, improved administration of electoral laws and a lot more. It further x-rayed how INEC deployed the use of the card reader in the process of the 2019 general election. Although there were some hiccups like breakdown of the card reader, inadequate training of the ad-hoc staff and poor sensitization of the people on the use of the device, there were a lot of successes like reduction of rigging and manipulation of figures and ensuring that an individual votes only once for a particular election. The research used both primary and secondary sources of data analysis. The primary sources consisted of the electorates who participated in the election, data from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which was the electoral body and reports from civil societies who directly participated in the exercise. Books, journals, the internet and other existing literature on the subject matter made up the secondary sources. The study recommends among others that the federal government should as matters of urgency ensure the strict application of e-governance and modern technology in the conduct of all subsequent elections in Nigeria without which such election should be nullified. The government should ensure that card readers and other devices used in the electoral process are of good quality in line with international best practices. This will prevent rigging and manipulation of election results among others.

Keywords: Government, E-Governance, Technology, Election, INEC