The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says Nigeria is not yet ripe for electronic voting because of the absence of robust technical and physical infrastructure in the country.

Speaking in Abuja on Monday at the stakeholders’ forum on the future of elections in Nigeria, an INEC National Commissioner, Prof. Okey Ibeanu said several key factors need to be taken into consideration before e-voting could be adopted in the country.

He said such factors include stable power supply and the ability of the electorate to conquer their fundamental trust issues in the system by believing in the capability of the electoral body to function independently without external manipulations.

“Each time we are demanding more complexification of our election, we should remember that our infrastructure may not be adequate to take care of the process,” Ibeanu said at the forum organized by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, with the support of the British Department for International Development (DFID).

Also speaking at the occasion, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu said the commission has embarked on a comprehensive review of processes and procedures it adopted for the 2019 general elections.

Represented by another National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, Yakubu assured that INEC would, at the end of the review exercise work with the National Assembly to propose an alteration of the constitution and legal framework on critical issues that posed challenges to the 2019 general elections.

“The Commission will also follow closely the pronouncement and judgments of the various courts and tribunals on novel constitutional and electoral issues and incorporate them into its proposals for constitutional reforms,” he said.