Senate Doubts the Effectiveness of Card Readers
Senate Doubts the Effectiveness of Card Readers
The Senate yesterday refused to give any definite response regarding the use of the Card Reader Machines introduced by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) for use in the March 28 and April 11 general elections. Following the deployment of the Card Reader by the INEC to accredit voters for the forthcoming elections, the Senate on Tuesday invited the commission’s Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to appear before it and explain INEC’s preparedness for the elections. During the session, which lasted for three hours at the Red Chamber, Jega observed the challenges of the Card Reader. “Using the card readers has too many challenges. What if a card reader fails? What if a person is verified, and his finger print cannot be authenticated?,” he queried. He said that INEC has agreed with all political parties on what to do, if any of these arises. “In the likely event that a Card Reader fails, we have enough spares to deploy before the end of the accreditation at 1p.m. If we cannot replace it before the end of accreditation, then the election in that particular point will be postponed to the following day when a new Card Reader would be provided for election,” he said.
Reacting to the fact that the Card Reader is programmed to work for five hours, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, feared that some electorate would be disfranchised. “This is a very practical thing. From what we have seen here today, it means that it will take about one minute to accredit a person. “You said that the device is programmed to work for five hours daily. Let’s assume that you commenced accreditation by 8 a.m., you will finish by 1 p.m., like you said. “If that is the case and from what we have seen here today, it means that you will only accredit 60 voters in one hour by one person per minute. It also means that only 300 voters will be accredited between the accrediting hours of 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. “We all know that most polling booths have more than 300 registered voters. Now, if this is the case, the rest of the registered voters would be disenfranchised for the election,” Abaribe said. In her worry, Senator Chris Anyanwu requested for the place of non northerners, who registered in the North. She particularly noted with concern that some Nigerians from the Southern part registered in the North, but had to run away for safety. “Would they also be considered as internally displaced persons(IDPs)? Because they registered in the North, but cannot be allowed to vote in the South, where they have run to safety,” she noted.
Anyanwu also observed that Senator Chris Ngige’s finger could not be captured in the trial exercise on the floor of the Senate. In his concern, Senator Odion Ugbeshie wondered, if INEC would not be celebrating illegality through the Card Reader. Earlier, Jega raised fears that the Card Reader would disenfranchise some electorate. “The card reader will not read every finger,” he hinted. Jega also admitted that the Commission was managing a very difficult situation in the Boko Haram strongholds and areas of operations, especially in Maiduguri, Borno State. Jega could not guarantee that all the permanent voter cards (PVCs) would be made available to their owners, with about four weeks to the rescheduled dates of the general elections. He informed the senators that INEC was yet to produce 1 million PVCs from China. In his closing remarks, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, assured the INEC boss of the Upper Chamber’s readiness to assist. “We want to win our elections, but we want to win free and fair. Nobody wants to come back from the back door. We will work with you to ensure that you succeed in what you are doing ahead of the forthcoming general elections,” Mark said. The UNION recalls that the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma- Egba, on Tuesday said that the deployment of the Card Reader by the INEC to accredit voters is contrary to Section 52 of the Electoral Act 2010.
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