Otuoke (Bayelsa)- The Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Ima Niboro, has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently sort out the failure of its card readers.
Niboro gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Otuoke, Bayelsa, shortly after INEC’s card reader failed to recognise the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) of President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan for accreditation on Saturday.
Niboro described the failure of the card reader as “shocking“ and “frustrating“.
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“We are shocked and disappointed and quite frustrated; it is a very sad development; I hope INEC will find a means of sorting out this problem.
“I have been speaking with the (REC) Resident Electoral Commissioner; I actually spoke with Prof. Attahiru Jega on the REC’s phone.
“And he told me that he had directed the REC to accredit the President and his wife by the register; but I also asked if it was exclusively for the President and his wife or if it was going to be replicated in other locations.
“He said no, that it was for just the President and his wife. But as a journalist and as a reporter myself I can imagine that this could be happening to millions of other voters elsewhere.
“So how do we sort out this kind of problem? I think INEC really has to step up in this matter.
“What if this is happening to other people – people, who don’t have a voice.
“I was very lucky; in fact I wasn’t sure. It rejected my index finger about four times. I kept cleaning and wiping it before it worked. I was lucky that is all I will say.
“I hope that the vast majority of Nigerian voters are as lucky as I have been today.“
Mr Baritoh Kpaghih, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Bayelsa, explained that on learning about the failure of the card reader to recognise the first family’s PVCs, Jega had authorised the officials of the commission to accredit Jonathan and his wife using the incident form method. (NAN)
