Jega, RECs to review card reader test tomorrow

 

INEC Boss, Attahiru Jega

There were indications on Monday that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof.Atahiru Jega, would on Wednesday (tomorrow) review the outcome of the card reader test with Resident Electoral Commissioners.

Austinethomas blog learnt that the meeting would also review the commission’s readiness for the     March 28 and April 11 general elections.

An INEC commissioner, who confided in one of our correspondents, said, “The commission has been impressed by the testing of card readers. We are so happy that Nigerians are appreciating our efforts.

“Nothing can stop us from using the card readers, which we believe will eliminate fraud during the elections.”

Jega’s Chief Press Secretary, Kayode Idowu, had earlier on Monday told Austinethomas blog that INEC had started “compiling reports” from its field officers, including the RECs, on the mock test of the card readers in   12 states.

The states are Rivers,   Ebonyi , Ekiti, Taraba , Kebbi,   Nasarawa,   Niger, Lagos, Delta, Bauchi, Anambra and Kano.

Idowu added that a statement would be issued by the commission once the results were compiled.

He said, “The commission is compiling reports from the field officers, including the RECs. The commission will look at the reports and make its findings known.

“While we are waiting for this, we must also say that the reports we have received from the media and Nigerians showed that the exercise was a success.”

The two main political parties in the country – the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress – have different opinions on the outcome of the card reader test.

While the PDP expressed concern over what it called a series of complaints by Nigerians regarding the exercise, the APC said it was satisfied.

On   complaints by some people that the battery of some of the card readers did not work optimally during the test on Saturday, Idowu said that was not   true.

“At the end of the exercise in most places, the batteries still had 60 per cent power unused in them,” he added.

Idowu also reaffirmed that INEC, would   deploy 152,031 card readers for the elections that would take place in 119,973 polling booths across the country.

According to him, some polling booths with more than 4,000 registered voters had been broken into units within the same centre.

He said, “We have 119,973 polling booths across the country. However, there are some polling booths which have more than 4,000 voters. These ones have been broken into units within the same booth. The only difference is that all the voters won’t be in the same queue.

“We won’t have more than 700 voters in a voting unit or polling booth, but all the voters in a particular polling unit or booth will still vote in the same place, but will not be on the same line.”

He further explained that the number of polling booths and units in each state would determine the number of card readers to be deployed in them.

But a group, PDP Integrity Vanguard, on Monday warned that the card readers must be jettisoned because they could give an undue advantage to the APC.

The PDP IV, at a news conference addressed by   Anietie Okon and Sergeant Awuse, said, “The card readers are unarguably a recipe for monumental national disaster and must be discarded at this point because of the obvious intention to use them to rig elections in favour of APC and the consequent attendant threat to peace and security of the people of this country.

“In what is a classical case of putting the cart before the horse, the National Assembly was deliberately hoodwinked into approving the use of the card readers days before the test-run that has thrown up inherent weaknesses of the machine.”

It also raised the alarm that INEC was “creating additional 30,000 voting points”   despite National Assembly’s opposition.

Stressing that the   introduction of “new voting points” and “incident form” was unacceptable, the group called on the National Assembly to, “ as a matter of urgent national importance, investigate the introduction by INEC of the so-called voting points.”

The group said, “INEC’s action is obviously intended to surreptitiously circumvent National Assembly’s express position on the matter.

“We believe it is the clandestine way Prof. Attahiru Jega(INEC chairman) hopes to achieve his original intention of using them to generate the tie-breaking bank of votes and must not be allowed.”

Meanwhile, the   Oyo State REC , Rufus Akeju, has stated that 5,620 card readers   would be used in the state for the elections.

Akeju, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Ibadan, said, “We have received 6,000 card reading machines already from Abuja. We expect that more machines could be sent if there is a need for them.

“We actually need 5,620 machines but the extra machines are there in case any of them     malfunctions during the election process. We do not want any delay during the accreditation process; that is why we have requested more of the machines.”

The REC, who was in Ekiti State on Saturday for   the mock test of the card readers,   said contrary to criticisms, the device would not delay the accreditation of voters.

“The machine has 14 hour-lifespan. We did not use up to 20 per cent of the battery of any of them during the test-run.”