The chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, has declared
the readiness of the commission to conduct elections on March 28 and
April 11, but he could not say if the security agencies would be ready
for the rescheduled polls.
Jega stated this in a four-hour briefing of senators on the postponement of the polls, the commission’s preparedness and the use of card readers in the forthcoming polls.
Jega, however, stressed that any further attempt to postpone the poll dates would be a breach of the provisions of the constitution.
INEC recently rescheduled the general elections from February 14 and 28 after security agencies advised it to postpone them for six weeks, to enable them address the security challenges in the country.
…Rescheduled election must hold otherwise…
On whether he can give assurance that the elections will hold on the rescheduled dates, he said the commission will be fully ready before the new dates. He, however, directed the lawmakers to ask the security agencies if the new dates were sacrosanct as the matter was beyond his office.
“Certain questions should be directed to security agencies,” he said. “I don’t see how anybody will contemplate any extension beyond this point because it will be beyond the constitution’s time frame.
“I cannot guarantee the sanctity of the dates because there are things under the control of security agencies.”
…No going back on use of card readers
He also insisted on the use of card readers, saying the decision of the electoral body to use the electronic device is not in breach of the electoral process or laws in any way.
“The use of the card readers for the purpose of accreditation of voters is one of the innovations introduced by the commission to improve the credibility of the electoral process; in particular, the accreditation process. It is not offensive to the Electoral Act or to the constitution. It adds value to the desires of Nigerians to have a credible election in line with international best practices.”
He explained that whereas Section 52 of the Electoral Act prohibits the use of electronic voting, the card reader is neither a voting machine nor will it be used for voting, but it is merely an electronic device introduced to improve the integrity of the voting process.
While speaking on the technicalities of the card readers, Jega said the commission had taken care of eventualities such as malfunctioning of machines or factory defects, noting that, already, 510 out of 120, 000 card readers had malfunctioned during the testing process. He, however, assured the legislators that adequate efforts had been put in place to handle such situations.
“Using the card readers has challenges: What if a card reader fails? What if a person is verified and his fingerprint cannot be authenticated? We have worked together with all political parties and agreed 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 1pm.
“If we cannot replace before the end of accreditation, then the election in that particular point will be postponed to the following day when a new card reader will be provided for election.
Jega further explained that if a voter’s PVC had been read and the details had been verified but his fingerprint could not be authenticated or he or she had no fingers, an incidence form would be written by the presiding officer at the voting point and the voter would then be accredited, with party agents and observers there testifying to it.
The electoral boss went on to discuss what his organization was doing to prepare for the election.
“In the next six weeks, the commission hopes to utilise the period of extension to organise more public enlightenment programme on the use of the card reader, but we have already done a number of tests. We have tested these card readers in a pilot scheme here in the FCT and some of the states. We have sent national commissioners to supervise the distribution of PVCs and they went with technical officers and the card readers, and wherever they went, as people were collecting their cards, they were also checking to see whether the cards could be read. In general, we are satisfied with the result”.
1 million PVCs yet to be produced
Professor Jega also informed the Senate that between 800,000 and 1,000,000 permanent voter cards (PVCs) were yet to be produced.
He, however, assured Nigerians that all the cards will be produced and ready for collection before the March 28 presidential election, noting that 76 per cent of PVCs collection had been recorded nationwide.
Jega and his team also demonstrated the use of the card readers to the senators, using their PVCs to show them how the process works.
Jega stated this in a four-hour briefing of senators on the postponement of the polls, the commission’s preparedness and the use of card readers in the forthcoming polls.
Jega, however, stressed that any further attempt to postpone the poll dates would be a breach of the provisions of the constitution.
INEC recently rescheduled the general elections from February 14 and 28 after security agencies advised it to postpone them for six weeks, to enable them address the security challenges in the country.
…Rescheduled election must hold otherwise…
On whether he can give assurance that the elections will hold on the rescheduled dates, he said the commission will be fully ready before the new dates. He, however, directed the lawmakers to ask the security agencies if the new dates were sacrosanct as the matter was beyond his office.
“Certain questions should be directed to security agencies,” he said. “I don’t see how anybody will contemplate any extension beyond this point because it will be beyond the constitution’s time frame.
“I cannot guarantee the sanctity of the dates because there are things under the control of security agencies.”
…No going back on use of card readers
He also insisted on the use of card readers, saying the decision of the electoral body to use the electronic device is not in breach of the electoral process or laws in any way.
“The use of the card readers for the purpose of accreditation of voters is one of the innovations introduced by the commission to improve the credibility of the electoral process; in particular, the accreditation process. It is not offensive to the Electoral Act or to the constitution. It adds value to the desires of Nigerians to have a credible election in line with international best practices.”
He explained that whereas Section 52 of the Electoral Act prohibits the use of electronic voting, the card reader is neither a voting machine nor will it be used for voting, but it is merely an electronic device introduced to improve the integrity of the voting process.
While speaking on the technicalities of the card readers, Jega said the commission had taken care of eventualities such as malfunctioning of machines or factory defects, noting that, already, 510 out of 120, 000 card readers had malfunctioned during the testing process. He, however, assured the legislators that adequate efforts had been put in place to handle such situations.
“Using the card readers has challenges: What if a card reader fails? What if a person is verified and his fingerprint cannot be authenticated? We have worked together with all political parties and agreed 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 1pm.
“If we cannot replace before the end of accreditation, then the election in that particular point will be postponed to the following day when a new card reader will be provided for election.
Jega further explained that if a voter’s PVC had been read and the details had been verified but his fingerprint could not be authenticated or he or she had no fingers, an incidence form would be written by the presiding officer at the voting point and the voter would then be accredited, with party agents and observers there testifying to it.
The electoral boss went on to discuss what his organization was doing to prepare for the election.
“In the next six weeks, the commission hopes to utilise the period of extension to organise more public enlightenment programme on the use of the card reader, but we have already done a number of tests. We have tested these card readers in a pilot scheme here in the FCT and some of the states. We have sent national commissioners to supervise the distribution of PVCs and they went with technical officers and the card readers, and wherever they went, as people were collecting their cards, they were also checking to see whether the cards could be read. In general, we are satisfied with the result”.
1 million PVCs yet to be produced
Professor Jega also informed the Senate that between 800,000 and 1,000,000 permanent voter cards (PVCs) were yet to be produced.
He, however, assured Nigerians that all the cards will be produced and ready for collection before the March 28 presidential election, noting that 76 per cent of PVCs collection had been recorded nationwide.
Jega and his team also demonstrated the use of the card readers to the senators, using their PVCs to show them how the process works.
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