Former Secretary to the Federal Government, Chief Olu Falae says lack of transparency in the electorate system could jeopardise the nation’s democracy.
He said this while reacting to the controversy surrounding electronic transmission of election results occasioned by the recently-passed Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
Falae, who vied for the presidency in 1999, stated that electronic transmission of results is done all over the world, noting that fears that the system could be hacked were exaggerated.
“All that I can tell you is that for Nigeria to survive, for our democracy to survive, for election to be credible, we must do all that is necessary to ensure transparency.
“If we don’t for whatever reason we are compromising the future and stability of Nigeria. The world has passed the stage where one section will manipulate elections and hope that that will give them power with which they can lord it over the other people. Unless there is fairness and transparency, no democracy can survive.
“So, the electronic transmission of result makes the process more transparent in my opinion and, therefore, is to be preferred to any other alternative. That is my opinion.
“There are some people that are saying that the electronic system can be hacked and the results perverted. It is possible, but we cannot because of that fail to do what the rest of the world is doing to ensure that there is general acceptance and confidence in election result.
“It is the very bedrock on which democracy rotates, the bedrock on which democracy is built,” Falae told Sunday Sun.
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