TheCable

Electronic voting machines will be used in the local government election of Kaduna state scheduled for May 12.

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of the state, said this at the flag off of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaigns for the poll.

He said his administration had invested a considerable amount in electronic voting because the APC believes that votes must count.

The event was attended by John Oyegun, national chairman of the APC; Zainab Ahmed, minister of state, budget and national planning, and chieftains of the party in the state.

“Our local government elections will be the first ever in Nigeria conducted by electronic voting,” he said.

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

He said the introduction of the card reader by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2015 election helped promote electoral integrity, saying that Kaduna is taking it a step further to bring full electronic voting.

The governor said his the APC government is making life better in Kaduna state, adding that in the last three years, his administration had “worked hard to overcome the legacy of sorrow that PDP left”.

According to him, 16 years of PDP rule, left most public schools in the state without furniture and other amenities.

He disclosed that his administration had initiated 1,293 projects which are at various stages of completion across the state, adding that the projects are being funded by capital spending.

“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,” he said.

“This injection of at least N120 billion 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.”
The governor said he was confident that during the poll, the people will entrust the 23 local governments in the hands of the APC that has given them life.