AS the 2015 elections inch nearer, the exercise may have already got a
factor that will mar it the process in which the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) is handling distribution of Permanent Voter
Cards (PVCs).
Investigations conducted at the weekend indicated that there is large scale fraud in the manner the PVCs are being distributed in many parts of the country.
Sources told Sunday Tribune that the outcome of the Saturday test conducted by the INEC on the proposed card readers to be used during the elections has also largely revealed the underbelly of the commission’s state of preparedness.
A senior official in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), confided in our reporter that “whereas INEC planned and announced that Distribution Register (DR) of collection must be used. This was disregarded in the Northern part of the country, as some states’ INEC offices claimed that DR was not available and, thus, distributed without register.
“And so, there is no auditing DR of collection of PVC, as most of the PVCs in the North were delivered to prominent politicians, district heads, clerics and, in a particular, governor of a state under Boko Haram insurgency.”
The alleged rot in the PVC saga is also said to have been compounded by the card reader development. This, the source noted would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
“Whereas INEC has promised that the card readers would be used for the 2015 election in the 120,000 polling units and voting points, there are grounds for legitimate fears, based on the fact that Saturday mock exercise had proved that the card readers could cause great harm to the overall elections, with the tacit disenfranchisement of many of the voters who participated in the trial exercise across the 12 states.
“There are credible reports that in some parts of the country, particularly in the North, the card readers will not be used as electoral rules are usually not complied with. That is a case of one country, different rules,” he said further.
Also reports from across the nation, from yesterday’s exercise, also confirmed that the mock exercise did not record 100 per cent success, particularly in states where voters turned out en mass.
It was learnt that it was only in Ekiti where appearance was scanty that a measure of success was seen.
Indeed, it was reported that in some cases, the card readers rejected cards of some of the prospective voters.
According to telecommunications experts, the card readers can be pre-programmed to reject PVCs.
It was also said to have the capability of being “pre-loaded, even without using the right PVCs.”
Source: Tribune
Investigations conducted at the weekend indicated that there is large scale fraud in the manner the PVCs are being distributed in many parts of the country.
Sources told Sunday Tribune that the outcome of the Saturday test conducted by the INEC on the proposed card readers to be used during the elections has also largely revealed the underbelly of the commission’s state of preparedness.
A senior official in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), confided in our reporter that “whereas INEC planned and announced that Distribution Register (DR) of collection must be used. This was disregarded in the Northern part of the country, as some states’ INEC offices claimed that DR was not available and, thus, distributed without register.
“And so, there is no auditing DR of collection of PVC, as most of the PVCs in the North were delivered to prominent politicians, district heads, clerics and, in a particular, governor of a state under Boko Haram insurgency.”
The alleged rot in the PVC saga is also said to have been compounded by the card reader development. This, the source noted would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
“Whereas INEC has promised that the card readers would be used for the 2015 election in the 120,000 polling units and voting points, there are grounds for legitimate fears, based on the fact that Saturday mock exercise had proved that the card readers could cause great harm to the overall elections, with the tacit disenfranchisement of many of the voters who participated in the trial exercise across the 12 states.
“There are credible reports that in some parts of the country, particularly in the North, the card readers will not be used as electoral rules are usually not complied with. That is a case of one country, different rules,” he said further.
Also reports from across the nation, from yesterday’s exercise, also confirmed that the mock exercise did not record 100 per cent success, particularly in states where voters turned out en mass.
It was learnt that it was only in Ekiti where appearance was scanty that a measure of success was seen.
Indeed, it was reported that in some cases, the card readers rejected cards of some of the prospective voters.
According to telecommunications experts, the card readers can be pre-programmed to reject PVCs.
It was also said to have the capability of being “pre-loaded, even without using the right PVCs.”
Source: Tribune
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