Coalition calls for biometric system in Nigerian election

The Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform in Nigeria has demanded the adoption of biometrics for the 2015 elections in the country, following a meeting in the nation’s capital earlier this week.

The meeting was well-attended, with development experts from sub-Saharan Africa in attendance, and biometrics was widely identified as one of the safest measures for ensuring a transparent electoral process.

Reported in Channelstv.com, a Councillor from the Kenyan Embassy, Michael Miriti noted that although the biometric system used in Kenya’s recently ended election was not without problems, it still contributed to the success of the election. The councillor added that electoral reforms can not be complete without the transformation of the electoral instutitions, meeting modern standards.

According to the report, other speakers argued that the country needs to invest in modern technology to improve the system.

Nigeria is no stranger to biometrics. Reported previously, the Nigeria Immigration Service has announced that it will install biometrics equipment across all border posts in the country. 

Also, following the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation’s mandate to install biometric workforce management system in Nigeria’s hotels, a formal agreement on was set to be signed between the NTDC and Orbit Technologies to initiate the deployment. 

In 2012, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) of Nigeria announced its proposal to capture the biometrics of every Nigerian and issue national identity numbers within a period of only 30 months. 

Later in 2012, Odimegwu said other government agencies (such as the NIMC) which had been collecting biometric data will pool that information with the NPC. The chairman also controversially suggested that any Nigerian who is not captured in this most recent demographic survey will not be recognized as a citizen of Nigeria after the 2016 national population census.

 

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election  |  elections  |  fingerprint  |  verification  |  voter registration