An Assessment of the Level of usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the General Election Administration in Nigeria
Ayoade, Olusola Bamidele
Department of Computer Science
Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo
Email: ayoadebamidele2014@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to assess the level of usage of ICT in the general election administration in Nigeria using three Local Government Councils in Oyo Township. A descriptive survey design was employed and adapted questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The population of the study consists of all the peoples living within the three Local Government Councils in Oyo Township. An incidental random sampling technique was used to selecting two hundred (200) respondents from the population of the study and three research questions were formulated for the study. Out of the 200 questionnaires administered on the sample of the study, only 170 were returned. Data collected were analysed using both simple percentage, correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis at 0.05 level of significant. The results of the study indicated that 82.3%, 78.8%, 65.3%, 56.5%, 55.9%, 49.5% and 34.7% of the respondents agreed that ICT are used for voter registration/education, communication between/among citizens, leaders and interest group, demand for better services, civic education, demand accountability and transparency in the conduct of public affair, electoral monitoring and offer e-services to citizens respectively. In addition the results showed that 77.1%, 74.7%, 73.5%, 14.1%, 21.2%, 33.5% and 45.3% of the respondents reported that the level of usage of ICT for voter registration, issuance of voter id, monitoring and evaluating electoral processes, nomination of candidate, delimitation and demarcation of electoral boundaries, conduct of polls and declaration of result respectively. Finally, the results indicated that both gender (β=.082, P (.173>.005) and income (β=.-014, P (.899>.005) do not significantly predicts the level of perception of the respondents to the use of ICT in election administration while category of respondent (β=.234, P (.002<.005), age (β=.300, P (.006<.005)and educational qualification(β=.291, P (.001<.005) significantly predicts the level of perception of the respondents to the use of ICT in election administration. The study recommends that there must be regular training for INEC staff to improve their ICT skills or enable them acquire additional knowledge which enhance their ICT competence. INEC should ensure that ICTs are deployed in election administration to enhance and promote accountability, transparency and better services of election process.Keywords: AFIS, Biometric systems, Election, GIS, Optical scanning
