The Gubernatorial Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kwara State, Professor Shuaibu Abdulraheem has expressed optimism that the electoral reform will create a level playing field for all and also make rigging almost impossible during the next general elections.

Shuaibu made these submissions while responding to questions from newsmen in Ilorin the Kwara state capital, North Central Nigeria.

The party’s flagbearer who is the former Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), described the reform in the electoral act as a significant improvement in the political culture, noting that it will give chances to common people to compete against richer and established politicians.

According to him, there has been significant improvement in the nation’s political culture due to the laws governing the activities of INEC and the political parties.

Shuaibu added that the act has given ordinary people greater chances of exercising their franchise at elections as it is no longer going to be the supremacy of a large family with a large purse.

While expressing his satisfaction with the improvement in the electoral act, the party gubernatorial candidate said that the newly introduced Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) will make perennial electoral problems like vote buying, rigging and multiple voting a thing of the past.

“I’m particularly impressed by the latest improvement in the electoral act and guidelines as provided by INEC, the money factor will be very marginal in this because with the use of BVAS, vote buying will be extremely difficult, rigging, multiple voting and bringing ballot papers from unknown places will now be over” he declared.

“The new one is so automated that all you need to do is to be vigilant of the party agents at the polling units because that is where the results are going to be computed and signed and from there, it will be sent to the INEC server for it to be accessible by all, interference with any other political interest, either violent or nonviolent will most likely be eliminated”, the gubernatorial candidate noted.

Prof. Shuaibu Abdulraheem is a highly cerebral administrator and the 6th Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin.

He served between the years 1997-2002.