By Efio-Ita Nyok, 6 April 2015, 1:48pm
Following concerns on the challenges as well as fears from some political quarters on the use of the Card Readers(CR), the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), through its Secretary has reiterated its stance to use the CR in the forthcoming gubernatorial/House of Assemblies election slated for 11 April 2015.
It has been perceived that most of these concerns are genuine. For instance, the CR, during the just concluded presidential elections of 28 March 2015 is noted to develop some technical hitches. Like the battery running down, network failure, inefficiency of the staff handling the machines etc. On the other hand, some of those pooh-poohing the use of the CR are those political parties, like the PDP, who are afraid of the free, fair and credible elections the use of the CRs occasions. Be that as it may, the insistent use of the CRs by INEC is commendable. However, the genuine concerns raised by critics should be looked into by INEC. Below, is the reading of INEC’s official position.
The Independent National Electoral Commission wishes to inform all Nigerians that Card Readers will be used for the April 11, 2015 Elections.
The provision of the Guidelines for the conduct of the 2015 General Elections which outlined what is to be done if a Card Reader fails and cannot be replaced by the Commission within a specified time frame (i.e. Reschedule the election to the next day) will be enforced.
