CARD READER FAILURE A NATIONAL EMBARASSMENT

Abuja – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has described the hiccup of Card Reader in accrediting President Goodluck Jonathan at Otuake Ward as a huge national embarrassment.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Olisa Metuh, the party’s National Publicity Secretary in Abuja on Saturday.

President Goodluck Jonathan is registered to vote on March 28, 2015 in Otuoke. After weeks of delays over an Islamic insurgency, Nigerians head to the polls on March 28 to elect a president for Africa’s biggest economy.
AFP PHOTO

The statement added that Govs. Jonah Jang, of Plateau, James Ngilari of Adamawa and Isa Yuguda of Buachi, among others, also experienced similar hiccup.

It then called for thorough explanation from INEC.

It contended that the poor working of the card readers in the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections across the country could have been avoided.

This, it said, added, would have been so if INEC had listened to sound advice from well-meaning individuals, organisations and the PDP regarding the deployment of the machines without proper testing.

The statement added that the last minute resort to manual accreditation by INEC, hours into the exercise against its earlier guidelines, clearly showed the failure of the system.

“The unfortunate development is a vindication of our earlier position that as good as the idea of card readers is, it was too virgin to be successfully used in a general election without proper testing.

“This is especially in an environment as ours that is not entirely digitally proficient”, it said.

It expressed concern about the development, given the avowed commitment of the President Jonathan-led PDP administration to hitch-free, fair and credible electoral process.

It, therefore, charged the electoral commission to take urgent steps within the law, to ensure that no willing and qualified voter was disenfranchised.

The statement urged Nigerians to remain calm in the overall interest of the nation.

It frowned at reported cases of accreditation of under-aged persons in some states, especially in the Northern part of the country.

The PDP statement called on INEC to ensure that such unqualified persons were not allowed to vote, but also to prosecute its officials involved in the crime. (NAN)