The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the poor working of the Permanent Voter Card readers in Saturday's Presidential and National Assembly elections across the country could have been avoided if INEC had listened to sound advice from well meaning individuals and organizations including the PDP regarding their deployment without proper testing.
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National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Saturday said the last minute resort to manual accreditation by INEC hours into the exercise against its earlier guidelines clearly shows the failure of the system.
"The unfortunate development is a vindication of our
earlier position that as good as the idea of card readers is, it was too virgin
to be successfully used in a general election
without proper testing especially in an environment as ours that is not
entirely digitally proficient”, it said.
The party described as a huge national embarrassment the that
the card reader had problems in accrediting President
Goodluck Jonathan, Governors Jonah Jang, of Plateau, James Ngilari of Adamawa,
Isa Yuguda of Buachi among others and called for thorough explanation from
INEC.
The PDP equally frowned at reported cases of accreditation
of under-aged persons in some states especially in the northern part of the
country and called on INEC not only to ensure that such unqualified persons are
not allowed to vote but also to prosecute its officials involved in the crime.
The ruling party said it is seriously concerned about the
developments given the avowed commitment of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led
PDP administration to hitch-free, fair and credible electoral process.
It charged the electoral commission to take urgent steps
within the law to ensure that no willing and qualified voter is disenfranchised,
while urging Nigerians to remain calm in the overall interest of the nation.
Signed:
Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary
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