DIGITAL FORENSIC: THE SOLUTION TO ELECTORAL MALPRACTICE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigeria has accelerated its transition from manual (queues, head counts) to semi-electronic voting systems over the last 20 years. This will undoubtedly present several challenges to election officials with limited technical knowledge. The Nigerian electoral experience has included unexpected and unexplained cases in each phase of the election procedure: preparation, screening, verification/fingerprint scan, balloting, result counting/tabulation, and results announcement. Forensics will aid in problem identification, which will aid in effective problem resolution. The Nigerian electoral process is fraught with difficulties. The survey design is used in this study because it allows for a scientific analysis of the variables under consideration. A sample size of 378 was chosen as a representative sample because it falls within the research limit established by the research adviser, as shown in appendix one. The data was analyzed using simple tabulation, frequency, and percentage. The study discovered that there is fiat political apathy among citizens, INEC officials and political party members are interested in the use of forensic analysis, election integrity is a point of contention in Nigeria democracy, and security use incumbent to human activities. According to the findings of this study, the survival of any democracy is linked to periodic elections that allow for mass mobilization or an input in order to ensure legitimacy, obedience, peace, and political instability. As a result, the study recommends, among other things, that political leaders invest in modern science and technology in order to give Nigeria a comparative advantage and position among countries around the world.