POLITICAL PARTIES PLAN FINAL ONSLAUGHT ON CARD READERS

DESPITE the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to test run the use of card readers in 12 states of the federation, political forces appeared bent on stalling the use of the machines for the 2015 elections.
The test-run of the card readers in the states of the federation had, on Saturday, returned mixed feelings.
While it was successful in some states, it failed massively in some others.
A coalition of political parties had filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking to nullify the use of the card readers at the polls.
The counsel, Ugochukwu Osuagwu, said in an interview that the use of card readers would violate Section 52 of the Electoral Act, which prohibits the use of electronic voting.
He said since the card readers are electronic machines, the courts should declare them ultra vires in the 2015 polls, pending the time the relevant sections were amended by the National Assembly.
It was gathered on Sunday that assessments by the various political caucuses in the aftermath of the test run by INEC provided negative conclusions.
“The cards cannot be trusted, they have to be stopped for these elections,” said a member of one of the main political parties prosecuting the case in Abuja court.
The source said since the matter was already before a law court, he would not discuss it further.
However, sources in the polity told the Nigerian Tribune that the parties involved had resolved to stop the use of card readers, in view of the commotion it could cause on election day.
Another source said INEC did not have answer to the mass failure of the machines, adding that the development would only disenfranchise many voters.
“We are coordinating efforts to make INEC see reason that we cannot just gamble with this election, and this is the time for the commission to face reality.
“Let only PVCs be used for the election to save the nation monumental embarrassment on election day,” the source said.
Source: Vanguard