Stakeholders from the southern part of Kaduna State have kicked against the use of Electronic Voting Machine (E-VM) for the forthcoming local government polls in the state. The stakeholders expressed fear that the machines could be manipulated or reprogrammed to favour certain political parties and candidates.
Speaking at a one-day summit on the theme ‘Towards Participatory Democracy: Local Government Council Administration and Election in Focus’, the president of SOKPU, Solomon Musa, urged the people to ensure that they elect credible and God-fearing people into public offices, adding that the era of using and dumping their people by ungodly politicians was gone.
A committee on political matters under SOKAPU headed by elder Steven Bangoji was mandated to fashion out political direction for the region towards the 2019 general elections.
“Those who want to play politics must play it in partnership with God, register with a political party and obtain permanent voters card otherwise we can’t play along for the development of our area,” Bangoji said.
On his part, a former deputy governor of the state, Audu Bajoga, recalled that the last local government election in the state under late Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa was the best because the leadership insisted on free and fair election.
He said, “PDP did not play by the rule; we bent the rules so much so that at the end of the day, we did not win the election. We were for self-interest rather than the interest of the party. We have learnt our lesson.”
The representative of Kaduna State Electoral Commission, Bulus John, who is the Head, Voters Education, said they were guided by law.
“The electorate should recognise the importance of their one vote to ensure that they use it wisely by voting into power credible people into the right positions to enjoy the dividends of democracy,” he said.
Senator Danjuma Laah in his submission, passed a vote of no confidence on the use of the electronic machine for the election.
“These machines should have been tested at all the local government headquarters before even fixing the date for the election so that if there is any fault it can be rectified before the day of the election,” he said.
