LG polls: why we introduced electronic voting ―el-Rufai

GOVERNOR Nasir el-Rufai, of Kaduna state, has said electronic voting was introduced in order to ensure that every vote count in the forthcoming local government elections slated for 12th May 2018 in the state.

This was even as he said the All Progressive Congress(APC) deserves to win.

He made the assertion in Kaduna during the presentation of flags to the APC flagbearers at the township stadium on Friday.

el-Rufai. remarked that his government has invested considerable sums in electronic voting because the APC believes that every body’s vote counts.

Acknowledging that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s introduction of the card reader for the 2015 elections helped promote electoral integrity, El-Rufai said Kaduna is now taking it a step further to bring full electronic voting.

According to him, to move forward, the APC has 1293 projects at various stages of completion across the state.

‘This is being funded by unprecedented levels of capital spending in the state.In each of the two full budget years we have had, 2016 and 2017, this government has spent more than N60bn on schools, hospitals, roads and water projects.”

el-Rufai, however, said the local government elections present an opportunity for Kaduna State voters to permanently retire the politicians of deceit and selfishness who are blocking the progress of the state and impending service delivery to ordinary people.

His words:”We have made the most significant investment ever to promote electoral integrity and transparency in Nigeria. Our local government elections will be the first ever in Nigeria conducted by electronic voting.

“By introducing electronic voting machines, this government is affirming its democratic credentials, a firm belief that people’s vote must count.”

“This injection of at least N120bn of budgetary investments into our state comes at a difficult period of national economic challenges. But we have been able to this because we have overthrown the corrupt legacy of the PDP; because the purpose of government has been rightly adjusted to making life better for our people through a commitment to their Education, Health, Jobs and Security.”

“It is no exaggeration to affirm that we have reinvented the local government system.

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“We inherited a system where many of our local government councils were so over-bloated that at least eight of them could not pay salaries without state government support. That system was so perverse that funds were illegally squeezed from solvent councils to pay bankrupt councils.

“By changing the laws, and removing their excess personnel burdens, all of our 23 local government councils are now solvent, able to pay their own staff and still have enough funds left to delivers services and projects. We have set our local government councils free from years of bankruptcy!”

On his part, APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, who handed flags to the party’s Chairman candidates, said he was proud to be present on the day electronic voting was introduced in Nigeria.

Oyegun also received into the APC prominent politicians and their supporters who have decamped from the PDP. ENDs