₦airaland Forum

The use of the card readers will add credibility to the elections
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 7, 2015, went to the field to test-run the reliability of the Smart Card Readers (SCRs) and the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the general elections. The trial took place in 225 out of the total 120,000 polling units and 358 out of the 155,000 voting centres that will be used for the elections.

While there might have been a few hiccups, the exercise was generally considered a good outing across 12 states in the six geopolitical regions of the country. The field reports largely justified the objective of the exercise: to verify PVCs presented by voters at polling units to ensure that they are genuine and to biometrically authenticate the person who presents a PVC at the polling unit and ensure that he/she is the legitimate holder of the card. To the extent that the real objective of the experiment is to ensure that only eligible voters exercise their franchise and that it is only such legal votes that are counted and tallied, we support the idea of PVC and SCR and urge INEC to go ahead.

However, the experiment was also marred by some problems that INEC will have to look into so it could perfect its act before the election proper. For instance, there were complaints about the slow process of accreditation, card reader’s inability to capture thumbprints of some eligible voters who had their PVCs as well as the inadequate enlightenment of staff and the voters for the exercise. The verification of PVCs, in some cases, also lasted up to 10 minutes per voter. Some states like Nasarawa, Rivers and Ebonyi recorded worrying SCRs failures. Indeed, a disturbed INEC had decided “to thoroughly investigate the cause” as well as “repeat the public demonstration” in Ebonyi State yesterday.

While the result is still being expected, the hitches observed were big enough to renew the rivalry between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in an already highly polarised political climate. The APC of course hailed the outcome of the exercise as an impediment to “manipulate the coming elections”. But the PDP dismissed it and asked that the usage of the card readers for the crucial election be shelved. The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh said the outcome of the test “vindicates earlier widespread calls by stakeholders that the card readers should be thoroughly tested to ascertain their workability before the general elections.”

The PDP point of view is being helped strangely by some 15 fringe political parties which have signalled their unpreparedness to go to the polls if the electoral body went ahead with the card readers for the conduct of the polls. Indeed, other interest groups have gone beyond verbal challenges as they have lodged their complaints against the use of the card readers in courts of law for appropriate interpretation, claiming its use would contravene the 2010 Electoral Act as amended as well as the 1999 Constitution. But many lawyers have waded in that it would not and that seems to be the conventional wisdom as the two leading parties seem to have resigned themselves to the use of both PVC and SRC for the election.


We feel, like most Nigerians do, that the use of the smart card readers will eliminate malpractices and add to the credibility of the elections. We urge INEC to ensure that the card readers function properly during the crucial elections. According to report, the electoral body has already procured 152,000 card readers with additional 26,000 units and 35,000 batteries as spares. These are enough equipment to end the needless controversy. For the 2015 general elections, we reaffirm our endorsement of the use of PVC and SCR even as we urge INEC to ensure that the process work seamlessly on polling days.

Tags: Editorial, Featured, INEC, Smart Cards