Experts in the financial technology (fintech) field think Nigeria can readily execute electronic voting if it ever wanted to.
They believe that with integration of bank accounts, Bank Verification Number (BVN) system, and the National Identity Number (NIN) system, Nigeria can execute a safe and iron cast voters electronic voting system for those who may wish to vote that way without going to polling centres.
Most Nigerians can vote at the comfort of their homes either same day or days ahead. This would make most elites who fear to step out on election days to vote freely and safely.
Those pushing the idea also think it can allow those on election duties such as electoral officers, security agents, media men, observers, etc, to vote earlier and move out to do their jobs.
Fintech experts led by Henry Udoh, an ex-banker, and now a financial inclusion expert, confirmed in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, at a workshop to deepen fairness in financial matters.
When the proposition was presented to him, Henry Udoh (PhD), a resource person from the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), who anchored the training on ‘Overview of Nigeria’s Financial Institutions, Policies & Regulations’, also said that the financial fraud and illicit financial flows can be shut down due to latest techs.
Udoh said that the Nigerian Senate was pushing for Diaspora voting instead of e-voting. He pointedly stated thus: “Electronic voting is possible in Nigeria with technology especially with bank verification number (BVN) and National Identity number (NIN). The US is doing electronic voting, and the Nigerian Senate is looking at Diaspora voting instead of e-voting locally first or firming up e-voting at home.”
Participants at the workshop including financial journalists reviewed the possibility of developing strong applications that could recognize a willing voter’s bank details, BVN and NIN to work out a voting system that cannot be hacked or sabotaged.
Udoh also wondered why funds move about in Nigeria without being detected, saying there were systems that show the security experts any money that was leaving from one destination to another.
The resource person enumerated problems of banks in Nigeria including financial crime (which include money laundering, financial terror, etc). He pointed at those that have an impact on the banking sector including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), fintechs, insurance firms, etc.
He said fintechs now fulfil the 2012 financial inclusion policy of the FG and CBN, adding that some fintechs are stronger than the regular banks and that most fintechs are not shaky at all.
On illicit flows, the CISLAC expert confirmed that Nigeria loses between $15bn and $18bn to fraud, which he said represents 30 percent of Africa’s $80Bn (now $88.6bn) loss per year. This was already confirmed by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). “This is the size of Africa’s illicit flows, yet, every sector in Africa is crashing.”
He noted that there is now increasing demand for credit reporting across banks (lenders). “Incidentally, credit reporting helps to protect the borrower, not only the lender.”
Throwing more light on the size of frauds in banks, the expert said governments were beginning to feel worried about fintechs. He said the ease of opening accounts with them and the ease of moving money electronically may now be from fintech to thin air. “It is easy to open an account and move money about. Could this be cover up for money laundering? This seems preferred by looters.”
He described the BVN as a regulatory policy success but revealed that kidnappers now operate to avoid BVN troubles by using victims’ phones to call relations of other victims.
He believes that KYC (Know your customer) is able to crash bank fraud mechanisms. “If this is implemented well, fraud will crash; ransom will crash.”
Read also: Local election monitors look back, call for electronic voting henceforth
“There is a tracking system of money around the world. If the security agencies want to track any money anywhere in the world, they have the capacity. In the fight against corruption, there is an urgent need for collaboration between the press and CSOs. Fair Finance Nigeria (FFN) is interested in this.”
Most participants were of the opinion that banks were simply aiding looting and fraud. “KYC plus BVN will simply kill fraud,” Udoh declared.
Udoh showed that reforms were needed to save the financial sector. He reviewed the role of the banking sector and the financial regulators over the years. He named those with impact on the sector as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), fintechs, insurance, etc.
On strengthening the regulatory framework through financial vigilance, Ibange Isine, a multiple-award winning journalist and activist who is the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Award winner in 2015 as well as the Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporter 2019 who is now the founder of @GuardpostNg, said that investigating Nigeria’s financial sector would be very crucial to save the poor and free funds to execute projects and reduce poverty.
He said at training which was for civil society organisations and media people that every journalist should see it as a call to duty.
The one-time Punch staff in the Niger Delta said investigative journalism would engender transparency. “If the press should end today, then Nigeria will sink in a matter of months. For now, it appears the regulators look the other way. It’s a wakeup call for the press to save Nigeria.”
Isine who admitted there were risks in the task however drilled the journalists on the methodologies and the available tools and strategies that would see the willing journalist through.
The objective of CISLAC was to realize that financial institutions play a crucial role in the development of any economy, though they could be used for illicit activities, such as money laundering and terrorist financing.
A concept note before the workshop said to combat these activities, it is important for coalition members and investigative journalists to understand the policies that financial institutions were required to follow.
“The financial sector in Nigeria is governed by a complex set of policies and regulations. Understanding these policies is crucial for coalition members and investigative journalists who play a key role in promoting transparency and accountability. This training aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate and scrutinize financial policies effectively.”
The objectives were aimed at increasing the understanding of coalition members and investigative journalists of selected policies within the Nigeria financial institutions in Rivers state Nigeria.
It was also to provide coalition members and investigative journalists with the skills they needed to investigate these policies and identify potential violations; and to build a network of coalition members and investigative journalists who can collaborate on issues related to financial crime.
These covered overview of the Nigerian financial system; selected policies within the Nigeria financial institutions in Nigeria, such as anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies; ways to investigate these policies and identify potential violations; and how to build collaboration between coalition members and investigative journalists.
Amaechi Justin of Tax Justice gave huge insights during his presentation to help participants understand tax issues and breaches involved.
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