Presidential elections must hold on March 28th, says INEC , insists on usage of Card Readers and Permanent voters cards

Those planning to rig the 2015 Presidential elections are in trouble as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commis­sion (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, told Senate yesterday

that any further shift of the general elections from the March 28 date is unconstitutional.

INEC shifted the exercise from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11.

In another breath and in response to a question from Minority Leader George Akume on the sanctity of March 28 and April 11, Jega told him to direct the ques­tion to the appropriate quarters.

“There are things that are under the control of the commission and there are things not under our control. What’s not under our control, it’s futile, fruitless to give guarantee on things not under our control. I think that question should be directed appropriately,” he said.

Jega, however, affirmed before sena­tors that only the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), would be used for the polls, adding that the commission has fore­closed the use of temporary voter’s cards (TVCs).

The PVC has a 10-year life span and “can be used for the 2019 general elec­tions.” Jega insisted that neither the Electoral Act nor the 1999 Constitution prohibits the commission from using the Card Reader. “Nothing says you cannot use electronic devices during the voting process.”

The INEC chairman, who had an in­teractive session with the senators which lasted three hours and 35 minutes, also said over four million people who were caught in multiple registrations and elec­toral offences have been removed from the voters’ register.

He told the Senate that although 75.9 perc ent of voters for the general elec­tions have collected the PVCs, 800,000 to 1 million cards are yet to produced.

He told lawmakers that the postpone­ment of the elections is a blessing in dis­guise as all PVCs could now be produced and distributed to voters.

Shortly after the Upper Chamber re­sumed for plenary, Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) moved a motion through Order 17 to allow Jega and his entourage enter the chamber.

The motion approved, after introduc­tory remarks from Senate President Da­vid Mark, Jega informed senators that the electoral body received a letter from the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (retd), who wrote on be­half of security chiefs and asked for the six weeks extension to enable them pro­vide security for the polls.

On Card Readers, Jega disclosed that a test pilot was done in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and 13 states with some of the INEC commissioners as coordina­tors.

Reacting to a question from a senator, Jega insisted that the purchase of PVCs by politicians is a criminal offence even though he reiterated that such cards are useless as they cannot be used for the elections.

The Card Reader, he said, has provi­sion for verification of thumb-printing of the owner with an embedded chip with details of the voter. “If the PVC cannot be read by the Card Reader 99.9 percent, then, it’s a cloned card. The PVC is a simple device which operates on battery. When fully charged, it lasts 12 hours. From our tests, the likelihood of failure of our Card Reader is minimal.”

He said through the test-run of the Card Reader, the battery does not run down because when it is not in use, “it goes on safe-mode.”

He, however, noted the problem with PVCs is not that of production, but col­lection as the voting public has left it too late.

“I don’t see how anyone would con­template shifting the elections now be­cause it is unconstitutional…Our hope and prayer is that in the next six weeks, things will improve and there would be elections. “Buying of PVCs by politi­cians is useless…we are producing and replacing snatched or stolen PVCs be­cause it is useless for whoever has stolen or snatched or purchased one.

“If you allow TVCs, they will come to the polling area, wave their TVCs and insist on voting…We’ve already made progress, there’s no reason to use TVC… Only people with PVC will be able to vote.”

On the modalities of using the Card Reader, Jega said each Card Reader, which was designed by the commission was built in China and tested in the Unit­ed States of America (USA). He said the Card Reader has been programmed such that if any voter comes after the accredi­tation, it will not work. He said: “Every Card Reader is configured to a particular polling unit. During elections, we con­figure the card reader to that particular polling unit before taking it there.”That’s why we said we will use this period of extension to do additional tests. We do have a comfort level and we feel com­fortable that these Card Readers can be used and they can add value to the elec­toral process…”

For the first time since voting started in Nigeria, this year, national voting de­mographics, including the number of women, men, rural and urban voters, vot­ers between 18 years and 30 years would now known through the Card Reader and made public, Jega said.

He told the lawmakers that inability of electoral officers to use the Card Reader is a criminal offence for which there are appropriate sanctions. For the accredita­tion process, only a minimum of 10 sec­onds and 30 seconds are required PEF voter, he said in response to a question from Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe.

Jega also affirmed that Internally Dis­placed Persons (IDPs) as a result of the insurgency in the North-east would be allowed to vote. “On the IDPs in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, there are more people living in host communities than in camps. There are designated poll­ing stations that are placed outside the camps so as to enable people vote…

“If stakeholders feel there’s more se­curity inside than outside, then, we are prepared to go with them…”

In his remarks, Mark urged INEC to conduct elections that would be univer­sally acceptable.

“We hope that INEC would take the best decision on the election and conduct an election that would acceptable…Those of us who are standing for elections in this chamber would also want free, fair and credible elections.

“Nobody seated here, I can tell you, wants to come back through the back door. As I said at the beginning, it is for us to assist you to conduct free, fair and credible elections and whatever we can do between now and the date you’ve cho­sen for the election, please, don’t hesitate to come back to us,” he said.