VOTERS’REGISTRATION:What INEC must do to avoid 2007 pitfalls, ADEOYE
By Emmanuel Elebeke
Recently, the whopping sum of N87 billion was approved and released to the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to organize election next year. Part of the money is to be used to produce a new voters’ register.
ADEOYE, Lagos NCS boss
But one group that does not want to give chances to failure is the Nigeria Computer Society. In this interview with Emmanuel Elebeke, the Chairman Lagos state chapter of the association, Mr. Rogba Adeoye x-rayed the failure of the previous exercise and offered solutions to avoid its repeat. He also spoke on the importance of national identity database among other issues. Excerpts:
You had previously suggested that INEC should ensure that data captured in the planned voters registration exercise be captured in INEC’s database. Can you shed more light of what you would rather INEC do?
That advice was informed by recent developments in the release of funds to INEC by the Federal Government for electronic registration with data capture machines. We in Nigeria Computer Society are of the opinion that INEC should be assisted by all well meaning Nigerians to do the right thing this time around.
In our recent past, the same process that they want to use was used and what did we get, failure. The first time was during the processing of the national identity card project and the second time was during the registration of voters in 2007.
As a professional body, beside politicking and business, we are particular about the registration and concerned about the functionality of the process. They are defective for now. The NCS is the primary custodian of that area, including other stakeholders in this national assignment.
We should be given the opportunity to bring our professional calling to bear and to support INEC with expert advice, free consulting and other support it may require to have a successful exercise. Arising from this, we likened this exercise to the third machine registration journey in Nigeria, which we want to make sure succeeds at least at this third stage. You agree with me that both the National ID card project and the INEC voters registration of 2007 were all shams and received wide condemnation up till today.
So, it will be stupid if we relax and watch Jega make the same mistake we made in the past. From a professional point of view, those two exercises failed technically in the process of gathering data. In that area, it is not only enough to say every thing is in place and provided. We call on every Nigerian to be vigilant and show concern this time around. Despite all those machines and huge sum of money involved, there still were multiple registration and manipulations.
That does not mean the machines did not do what they were supposed to do but those defects were recorded because the system adopted by INEC failed. It was even reported that some people wanted to bomb INEC headquarters then with the target of burning the INEC documents. In the light of this, we are advising INEC to shadow NCS in this project to bring in its professional advice if we must succeed this time.
Technically, what are those things that went wrong?
In technical terms, what we are saying is that the data capture machines should not allow for duplication of entries. Before the commencement of the registration exercise, there should be central database for INEC and all the machines to be used linked to the central unit. This will not allow duplication of entries.
This type of system involves a lot of technologies. You will recall that the computer that we are talking about is computer that is integrated with many technologies — camera, printer and that can take biometric features and other data and print it out.
If this machine can do all these, the question to ask is why can’t INEC do the right thing to help Nigeria out of its present dilemma.of getting a reliable and credible voters register, which could not be done in 2007? The real technology behind this is called database. This database is where every data captured during registration will be stored and there is a driver there that works on the machine which is software.
How can INEC go about bringing this technology you are talking about?
What INEC needs to do is to put this database in place before the commencement of the exercise next month. This will not allow multiple registration of voters even with so many machines because that was exactly what happened last time, where people went to different machines to register due to the absence of the software on all them. The software will identify somebody who comes to register more than once.
Some machines were allegedly seen in the homes of politicians then. How could INEC handle such cases this time?
Yes; I remember that in 2007, some machines were found with some politicians. They might have used them for multiple registration and to disallow this from happening again, the best approach is for INEC to have online system and real time to INEC database.
What this can do is that as one is registering, it is automatically saving every information being given to the machine and storing it at the central database, direct. With this the database will now serve as a check for any attempt for duplication of images, names, bio data etc.
My reason for this advice for INEC to assemble all the computer experts to brainstorm together on how best to arrive at the best approach. This is because they have the best knowledge that would work out better.
At this time also, I want to advise the Federal Government to factor in computer experts in constituting the INEC board of commissioners just as they involved NBA in legal matters and NMA in matters concerning health, because it will be abnormal not to have a computer expert in the INEC board of commissioners at this time we are talking about e-registration. In fact, it will be disservice to the nation. Outside this, government should realize that relevant professional bodies are needed in everything it is going to do if it truly desires to succeed.
In case your suggestion is not taken, or cannot be taken for other reasons, what should be the next alternative to INEC?
Should this approach fail, the alternative option to INEC is putting the data inside the machine and later taking it to head office and collate them from all the machines, and put same on the database. With the use of software, every duplicate will be thrown out. I can tell you that an undergraduate here in Nigeria can engineer the software; that’s not a problem.
For example, in the case of banks, what they use is called Virtual Private Network and every bank has its own. This makes it possible for one bank customer to have his picture and other data shown at every branch of such bank irrespective of the geographical space and time. All these were made possible by Nigerian computer experts.
Similar practice is being replicated with our GSM phones, where we can check our account balance and other information and they remain the same at any particular point in time.
The ability of a bank customer to use ATM card at every bank ATM machine and the ability of making calls from one network to another is another possibility with technology. INEC can make use of these in the voters registration exercise, and for disappointing us in previous exercises, I think that we cannot leave INEC alone this time around to make the same mistake again. Let us believe that they are not sincere.
Technology does not work on belief or morals but on dishonesty. It will always want to make sure that the system in place proves transparency. You can lie about what you intend doing, but in technology, nobody is interested or want to listen to you.
INEC was reported to have already contracted a Chinese firm for this project; don’t you think local technology would have been better?
Technology is a global thing; you can’t shut Nigeria’s doors to foreigners and vice versa. We want to de-emphasize who is involved in the procurement. As a society, we are particular about the intent of the exercise, and not the money.
No matter how much is involved we are saying that Nigerians must get value for their money and not just that, the deliverables must also be guaranteed. Our target now is result, not the money involved. Let there be a round table conference to give Nigerians what they want. If Nigerians are serious about this issue of voters register, civil liberty, professional bodies as well as other stakeholders should not rest on their oars.
This third journey must be done and be done well because the whole exercise does not even end with the third journey, it is just the beginning. A clearer picture of it is the many litigations at various electoral tribunals across the country due to the unreliable voters register before the elections in 2007. It was so because a platform was not created by the INEC to support the administration of justice. In Nigeria today, there is need for computer forensics because it will help in cases of litigation as we have today.
Could the National Identity Management Commission have provided this information to INEC to save the country the pain of going through this voter registration.
Yes, if the national Identity Commission is working very well, INEC will not require any voters’ register to conduct a credible election. This should be the last time people will be called out to come and queue and register in public.
If we have a national identity data, all we need to do is issue an ID card to everyone that attains the age of 18 and whenever INEC wants to conduct elections, it will go there and get all the information it require. It is a shame that Nigeria does not have a national data base. We need it for litigation, security and other social services. What we have now is isolated organizations doing different things for the same purpose. This will be a national infrastructure that will serve as a reference point.
If this strategy is adopted, are you saying INEC can beat desperate politicians in the game of duplicating voters register?
Not only INEC, technology can beat anybody. They will look for loopholes but will not succeed. If you bring technology it will drive transparency. If you bring in technology with sincerity of purpose, there will be nothing like corruption. Transparency will definitely fight corruption to standstill.
For instance, if you save one million Naira in the bank, if you check it tomorrow, it will be the same because of technology. If something happens to it technology will tell you and when it was turned.
