Elections: We’ll pull out, don’t trust INEC -Parties

Fifteen political parties and five presidential aspirants have expressed doubts in the ability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct credible, free and fair elections using the card readers.

The group therefore threatened to pull out of the forthcoming general elections.

Spokesperson for the group and national chairman, Advanced Congress of Democrats, Dr. Breakforth Onwubuya, at a press briefing Wednesday in Abuja, said the concept of using card readers for the elections, as planned INEC, “has a lot of implications which may negatively impact on the conduct of credible, free and fair elections.”

He said, “The first drawback is that this device is relatively a new technology that has not been tested or tried in a kind of mock election or previous formal elections prior to this time. This would have enabled the nation and the electoral umpire itself to properly ascertain its workability and efficiency in the conduct of the real general elections.

“The decision by INEC to commence the test-run of the use of Card Readers in some select states across the country on Saturday March 7, 2015, just less than three weeks to the commencement of the re-scheduled election, would not provide the commission enough time to rectify whatever anomaly that would likely arise from that exercise.”

In a related development, the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) has also expressed the party’s reservations on the use of card readers in the forth­coming elections, saying the machine has not been tested in any election.

Addressing newsmen Wednesday in Abuja, Director of Media and Publicity of PDP­PCO, Femi Fani-Kayode, not alleged that there is a plot by the APC to ensure that the card readers were effective in certain parts of the country, while it would be made ineffective to frustrate accreditation of voters in some states.

Fani Kayode said: Fani Kayode said: “Our position on the card readers remains that the machine has not been tested in any election and there are bases for genuine concern over the use of the machine, for the first time, in a crucial election of this magnitude.

 

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now