Card Reader Test Run: Lagos Had A Hitch-Free Test While Flaws Are Exposed In Other States

Yesterday’s test run of the Card Reader Machines proposed for the forthcoming general elections, carried out in 12 states, exposed the flaws in the new voting technology introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the machines failed to recognise Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in some states , according to reports from The Vanguard.

The reports stated that in many other states, the machines’ batteries went down after barely three hours of operation.

The batteries running down within the space of time may be an issue in an election in which voting may span at least six hours.

The failure of the biometric confirmation of potential voters was higher in the North.

Lagos State was, however, an exception as the exercise passed off smoothly with little hitches in the swiping of the PVCs and the biometric confirmation of the potential voters.

The exercise was carried out in Lagos, Ekiti, Anambra, Ebonyi, Taraba, Bauchi and Kano. The other states where the mock accreditation exercise took place were Kebbi, Delta and Rivers States.

Meanwhile, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said, yesterday, it was worried over the lapses in the testing of the Card Readers.

The party noted that the fall-out from the test “vindicates earlier widespread calls by stakeholders that the Card Readers should be thoroughly tested to ascertain their workability for free, fair and credible elections before being deployed for the actual polls.”

Metuh, who said that the party had noted series of complaints from Nigerians regarding reported lapses experienced in the testing of the machines, stressed that it was waiting for official response from INEC.