INEC card readers pass mock exam

The field testing of card readers which was held
on Saturday was largely successful but not
without some hitches.
These irregularities in the exercise that was
meant to be a dress rehearsal according to
findings by our correspondents ranged from the
inability of the card reader to identify some
finger and thumb prints and slow pace of the
process.
However, occurrences of success permeated
most of the poll units visited by our
correspondents.
The major grouse of electorate in Niger State
was the time spent on the accreditation of each
voter. This, many of the participants in the
mock polls described as “too slow”
This drew the attention of both the Peoples
Democratic Party and the All Progressive
Congress in the state on Saturday which
commended the Independent National Electoral
Commission.
The state PDP Chairman, Umar Musa Maali, said
“the time spent to accredit one voter is much.
If it can take a minute per voter to be
accredited, and with a polling unit like this place
that has over 1,000 voters, it is going to take
over 1,000 minutes, which is about 16 hours, to
accredit all the voters. The 16 hours is more
than the accredited time of five hours. I do not
know how INEC is going to sort it out.”
The APC Publicity Officer in the State, Jonathan
Vatsa, while speaking on his party’s concerns
over the Internet connection, described the
service as poor but that the party would ensure
INEC’s attention is drawn to it so that all polling
units are covered and captured during the
elections.
INEC National Commissioner supervising
Kaduna, Kwara, Niger and the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja, Dr. Chris Iyimoga while
addressing reporters, said the process of
demonstration to the public was smooth except
for few hitches with some card readers which
could be due to finger identification.
He said “In some instances, people cleaned
their hands with methylated spirit which has to
do with the level of cleanliness of fingers,
because, as soon as the fingers are clean, you
will be through.”
He disclosed that over 70 per cent of eligible
voters in Gwada ward had failed verification but
were said to be eligible since the data in the
PVC corresponded with the official list and also
as the machine identified them as owners of
PVCs.
Iyimoga also disclosed that if the information
given by the electorate is correct, the voter will
still be allowed to vote, adding that the
Commission has backup for the card reader in
case there are cases of malfunctioning.
Ekiti
In Ekiti State, the turnout was low.
As of 11:30 a.m, no fewer than 60 people had
been accredited in Dallimore polling unit 002 in
the state capital. The technical officers stated
that the average time for the accreditation
ranged between four and six seconds.
Members of European Union Election Observers,
Mrs Rumi Ana Decheva and Mr Uros Urstga, who
monitored the mock accreditation commended
INEC for the initiative, saying it would help in
adding credibility to the country’s electoral
process.
The chairman of the Conference of Nigerian
Political Parties, Mr. Tunji Ogunlola, in an
interview with our correspondent after
monitoring the exercise said, “It is very
transparent, reliable and fast. It will make
rigging impossible.”
Ogunlola who said he monitored in company
with a few other political parties commended
the INEC for a job well done and advised all
Nigerians to support the commission.
Former Commissioner for Tourism under ex-
Governor Kayode Fayemi’s government, Alhaji
Ayodele Jinadu, and ex-Chairman, Ado Ekiti
Local Government, Mr Sunday Ibitoye, described
the exercise as a huge success.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Sam
Olumekun, who monitored the event said it had
convinced Nigerians about the usefulness and
relevance of the machines in the coming
general elections.
He said, “We would have appreciated it if the
turnout has been better than this, but we have
been able to convince the people about the
workability of the machines, which was the
main issue.
Delta
In Delta State, the exercise was not without few
hitches as our correspondent observed that
INEC and voters alike reported to the 14 voting
units promptly at 8am when it was scheduled to
begin.
The units were located at Asagba Primary
School and Niger Mixed Secondary School, all in
Asaba. Six of the units were located were at
Niger Mixed Secondary School while the rest
were at Asagba Primary School.
Most of the verification went on smoothly,
taking just a few seconds for the polling officials
to interview and test each voter with the card
reader.
But there were a few cases where the process
caused anxious moments as it took several
trials before the card reader could verify the
few voters.
One of such incidents occurred at Polling Unit
12, where an elderly woman, Mrs. Franca Oba,
and to endure for almost 30 minutes before her
fingerprint was accepted by the card reader.
Unlike other voters that just came and had their
fingerprints verified within a few seconds, Oba
had to avail all her 10 fingers for verification for
seven times before the reader verified hers.
In her reaction, Oba said, “The card reader is
good. But if every voter has to go through this,
then it means people will not leave the polling
unit before midnight.”
The Attorney General and Commissioner for
Justice of Delta State, Mr. Charles Ajuya (SAN),
who monitored the exercise praised the
efficiency of the card reader but said it would
have been better if the exercise was taken to
the rural areas.
The Chairman of the Delta State Independent
Electoral Commission, Mr. Moses Ogbe, said,
“From what I have seen, we should give the
card reader a trial. It will go a long way to
improve our elections and democracy.”
But he advised that water or spirits should be
made available to clean the fingers of voters so
that the verification process could be smoother
and faster.
Niger
In Niger, 42 per cent of the eligible voters who
presented themselves for the exercise were not
accredited.
This was confirmed by the INEC on Saturday.
A National Commissioner of the commission Dr.
Chris Iyimoga, while disclosing the figures from
the 18 polling units in Gwada ward in Shiroro
Local Government Area of Niger state 1,799
voters were authenticated by the card reader.
According to him “The card reader out of 1,799
eligible voters that turned up, authenticated
1,045 voters with PVCs, leaving 754
unauthenticated”.
“With the figures we have, it shows that 58 per
cent voters are authentic and 42 per cent are
not authentic going by the card reader”.
Lagos
In Lagos the turnout was low. Despite this,
there were a few hitches. At the polling units
our correspondent visited in Onigbongbo, Ikeja
axis, most of the polling units recorded between
two and five registered voters turnout, while in
some others, no registered voter came out for
the exercise.
INEC officials at the different poll units which
recorded a few registered voters told our
correspondent that it took between five to 20
seconds to capture the voter’s identity and
finger print on the card reader devices.
However, there were a few cases where the
finger prints could not be accessed.
Rivers
In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, there were also
cases of finger prints not registering. This was
noticed by United Nations observers.
Leader of the group, Mrs. Eno Udensi, who
spoke, under the aegis of the United Nations
Election Observers, explained that based on her
observation, the card readers were working.
Udensi, who was at the State Primary School,
Orominike to observe the test-run of card
readers by officials of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, stated that though there
were some minor challenges in the exercise, it
would not affect the use of the items during the
elections.
“The machines are working, even though the
thumb printing is failing in most cases, the face
of registered voters appears on the card reader.
Some came with oily hands that make their
cards difficult to read.
“While it took about one or two minutes for the
card reader to okay one person, a particular
person had to wait for 15 minutes before the
card reader was able to read his thumb print.
But the photographs are showing on the card
readers,” she said.
Also, an INEC staff at Units 4,5,6 and 7 in
Orominike State Primary School, said the card
readers were hanging while trying to
authenticate eligible voters’ data.
The commission’s employee, who preferred
anonymity, said the card readers worked well in
some cases.
Earlier, a 25-year-old man, Princewill Obioma,
whose PVC could not be read by all the card
readers used at the State Primary School,
Orominike, expressed bitterness over the
development.
Ebonyi
In Ebonyi, the exercise was marred by the slow
pace in the authentication of PVCs.
Our correspondent observed that the card
reader took over 20 minutes to authenticate a
single PVC, which is done by matching the
fingerprints in the database, during the exercise
which took place at Izzi Unuhu, in Abakiliki
Local Government Area.
At Nkaliki Echara Primary School, out of 25
persons verified as at a point during the
exercise, only six were successfully
authenticated.
It was the same scenario at Edukwu Inyimagu
Hall, where only three persons, out of about 70
verified voters, were successfully authenticated
at a particular time.
However, those whose fingerprints could not be
verified by the card reader had their names and
pictures on the voters register.
However, while the authentication process was
slow, the card reader was very fast in verifying
the voters cards.
Accreditation for the exercise, which held in 24
polling units in Unuhu Ward 10, started by 8:00
am and rounded up by 1:00 pm.
Addressing journalists, the Ebonyi state
Resident Electoral Commissioner for INEC, Dr.
Lawrence Azubuike, who acknowledged that the
authentication process was slow, noted that all
the challenges encountered in the exercise
would be addressed before the general
elections.
Nasarawa
In Nasarawa, the inability of card readers to
verify the finger print of voters occured as many
voters who turned out for the exercise
complained of delay in the capturing of their
fingers print by machine.
At Garaku Primary School polling unit, out of the
10 registered voters accredited, four people
were successfully captured but it took about 15
minutes for the card reader to capture the
finger prints of the accredited voters after
several attempts.
The situation was similar at Otutu primary
school, Fegen Angwa, Agwan Gimba, Agwan
Takwa, Kurmi
Shinkafa and Kubere and Kofar Magaji Alade
and Agaba polling units. In an interview with our
correspondent, some of the voters, Mr.
Dangoje Mohammed, Gaya Umar Rico and John
Dangana, who suffered delay in capturing their
fingers by the card readers, protested the
several minutes they spent during their
accreditation exercise.
INEC’s reaction
Reacting to the reported performance of the
card readers, the Chief Press Secretary to the
INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said the
outcome of Saturday’s test-run exercise of the
voting devices was satisfactory.
“What we have seen in the test-run of the card
readers is not out of the ordinary. The so-called
hitches observed were things the INEC
chairman had already highlighted. The report
that the devices recorded low success is not
correct. In Lagos alone, we recorded 90 per
cent success in the test-run. We can assure all
Nigerians that INEC is ready to deploy the card
readers for the general elections. We are
absolutely confident of the device,” Idowu told
SUNDAY PUNCH .