Presidency, PDP work on rejecting card readers for election

There were indications that the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party were already commencing tactics aimed at frustrating the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission to make use of card readers for the 2015 elections.

There are indications that the ruling party and the Presidency were already looking at the possibility of mobilising Nigerians to demand that the use of card readers for the election be stopped.

This is coming as a former National Chairman of the ruling party, who is now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said there were signs that the PDP was not interested in holding the elections.

Rather, Ogbeh said, the party was still hell-bent on foisting interim government on Nigeria.

A source in the Presidency, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Tuesday, said that both the Presidency and some members of the National Working Committee of the party had been asked to continue to either condemn the use of the card readers for the elections or also that the commission be told to allow Nigerians to use the Temporary Voter Card instead of the Permanent Voter Card for the election.

He said, “We are not comfortable with the card readers. For example, we have not seen any and we don’t know how it works. What will happen if the card readers fail to work? We have not even been told that they would not fail. And if they fail, what would happen. I think the issue of card readers must be re-examined.”

The commission had said that it would introduce card readers for voters’ accreditation in order to verify the rightful owners of PVCs.

It said that the device would eliminate impersonation and voting by proxy during the elections.

...Punch