TheNewsGuru

Tag: Card Reader

  • #OndoDecides2020: Jegede, wife finally vote after initial card reader challenges

    #OndoDecides2020: Jegede, wife finally vote after initial card reader challenges

    Candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Eyitayo Jegede eventually voted at 11:08 am, 10 minutes after the card reader failed to read his fingerprint and that of his wife, Eno.

    Clad in white native attire with a blue cap to match, he dropped his ballot paper with excitement using two fingers to express victory.

    In an interview with reporters, Jegede said he would win the election despite pockets of violence in some areas in Akure and Owo.

    He said he was yet to receive reports from remote communities in the state as at press time.

    He commended voters for their large turnout and for conducting themselves peacefully so far in the exercise.

    On reports of violence, Jegede alleged one of his supporters, Sodiq Obanoyen, was attacked at his polling unit in Owo by thugs and some men clad in black dress, who he alleged were led by an unnamed commissioner.

    Despite the incidents of violence, Jegede said he would win.

    “Despite all of those incidents, we will win by the grace of God,” he said.

  • #EdoDecides2020: INEC is failing us, card readers not working, Oshiomhole complains bitterly

    #EdoDecides2020: INEC is failing us, card readers not working, Oshiomhole complains bitterly

    Immediate past Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has lamented that card readers are not working at some polling units in Saturday’s Edo governorship election.

    He said this after casting his vote at polling unit 01, Ward 10 in Uzairue northeast, Etsako West Local Government Area.

    The former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, however, warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to compromise.

    Addressing journalists, he said, “Since 1999, this is the highest turnout that I have seen. Elderly women and men turned out impressively.

    “The turnout showed that people have shown that they are ready for democracy. My only disappointment so far is that the machine is not working.

    “The INEC officials have reported but they have not brought a new machine.

    “This exercise is supposed to have a closing time. If they are doing this in my ward, it means that somebody wants to remove the number of voters here. But I have told them (voters) to stay here, they have a right to vote.

    “Nobody should come here and be unable to vote because of INEC’s failure.

    “I cannot believe that this is an ordinary error because before bringing the machine here, you should have tested it. I pray that INEC should be able to regularise them (the machines).”

  • Card reader malfunctions at Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s polling unit

    Card reader malfunctions at Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s polling unit

    One of the two card readers provided by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the polling unit of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s polling unit in Ikoyi, Lagos, has failed.

    An INEC official told newsmen that the voting is yet to start because the card reader has to be fixed.

    TheNewsGuru recalls that INEC’s Commissioner in charge of Voter Education , Festus Okoye, in February restated the directive regarding the use of card reader.

    “It was made very clear that the use of the smart card readers is mandatory. Therefore, no staff of the Commission or any ad-hoc staff of the Commission is permitted in whatever guise to deliberately refuse to use the smart card readers for the conduct of elections.”

     

  • No card reader, no voting in Kaduna – REC

    No card reader, no voting in Kaduna – REC

    Alhaji Kaugama Abdullahi, the INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Kaduna State said on Friday that there would be no voting in the March 9 Governorship and State Assembly elections without the use of the Card Reader.

    Abdullahi stated this while addressing a joint news conference with heads of security agencies in the state a few hours before the March 9 polls in the state.

    “Once there is no card reader, there will be no voting, and if voting is enforced, it would not be recorded,“ Abdullahi said.

    He said that once the card reader failed during the elections, there would be backup and technical experts would be on hand to rectify the gadget.

    Abdullahi said that the Commission had addressed most lapses experienced in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

    He said voting materials had been dispatched and were already being distributed from the 225 voting areas (Wards) to 8012 polling units in the 23 local government areas of the state.

    “Late arrival of materials will be history in Kaduna State, as 80 per cent of voting materials have been moved to registration areas already are as speak being distributed to the polling units.

    “I am assuring that by 7:30 am tomorrow, materials will arrive at polling units and voting will commence by 8:00 am, according to INEC rule. Our ad-hoc staff are also ready, and they are people of integrity.

    “So the issues of late arrival of materials, card readers’ failure have been taken care of, and such will not be repeated at this Saturday’s polls,“ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria recalled that, in the last poll, electorate waited for several hours before the arrival of the materials, a situation that led to the extension of the hours of the election period earlier scheduled between 8:00 am to 2:00 Pm to allow those on cue to vote.

    Also fielding questions from journalists, the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdurrahman said no local vigilante groups would be allowed to participate in the election exercise in the state.

    The commissioner said that personnel from the various security agencies including the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Immigration Service, the Civil Defence Corp, and the Federal Road Safety Corps had been deployed to take charge of the process.

    He said that the measure was taken to ensure a peaceful conduct of the Governorship and State Assembly Poll in the state.

    “After the last election, we sat and reviewed the security deployment and we deployed more security officials to where we found challenges.

    “Any Security official found attempting to disrupt the election will be arrested and local vigilante groups have been warned to stay off during the elections.

    “We are going to engage in Air surveillance with the Nigeria Police and the Nigerian Air Force. All private vehicles on election duty must carry tags as means of identification.

    “No food vendors would be allowed because we realized that the presence of such vendors encourages vote trading and leads to eruption of violence in some parts of the country,” he said.

    The police boss said “the PVC is the visa to move to your voting unit.

    “Only those on essential duty would be allowed to move around. No vigilante group is allowed to take part in the election,” he added.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 42 political parties are fielding 436 candidates for the March 9 Governorship and State Assembly poll in the state.

    NAN reports that 38 candidates including the incumbent, Gov Nasiru El-Rufai and Alhaji Isah Ashiru of the Peoples Democratic Party are running for the governorship seat in the state, while 398 other contestants are vying for the 34 State House of Assembly seats in the state.

  • 2019 elections: Card reader rejects Bayelsa Governor

    Smart card reader has rejected the thumb of Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, amidst reports of delays in arrival of election materials in some parts of the state.

    Dickson was however allowed to vote at Ward 2 unit 5 in Orerewari, Toru Orua, Sagbama Local Government Area at about 10.35 am after several unsuccessful trials on the card reader.

    The governor was allowed to vote after his Permanent Voter Card (PVC) was read manually and his name, signature and phone number were documented.

    Speaking after voting, Dickson noted that the failure of the smart card to read his thumb print was not new as it had occurred in the 2015 elections.

    He said that despite earlier complaints to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the glitches with the card reader had persisted.

    The governor expressed concerns over the reported cases of electoral violence in Nembe Basambri, Southern Ijaw and Ekeremor areas of the state.

     

  • 2019 elections: Card reader fails to identify Ben Ayade

    Cross River State governor, Prof Ben Ayade, has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the Saturday Presidential and National Assembly elections, describing the exercise and turnout as both peaceful and massive, even when the card reader deployed for his unit failed to identify him.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Ayade accompanied by his wife, Lynda, arrived Kakum Town Hall, Ipong polling unit, Obudu with registration area code CR/09 at about 11:05 where they were accredited and later exercised their franchise.

    Speaking shortly after casting his vote, Ayade said: “I am here in my own polling unit and I am happy that we have a very peaceful and massive turnout here in my ward and indeed my polling unit,” adding: “I am also very happy with the conduct, certification and quality of training that the INEC officials and ad hoc staff have received.”

    The governor noted that “the process is good and I think that the fact that we are highly registered in this unit and they decided to give us additional voting points has made it a lot easier as a lot of people have already voted as of this moment, so it is clear that by 2. pm, everybody should have voted and the turnout is impressive and peaceful and I hear this is the same situation across Cross River State.”

    On areas of improvement ahead of the remaining elections, Ayade intimated: “I guess it is about the technology. The inability of the card reader to actually identify my finger prints calls for worry. This is Ben Ayade, this is my face, the governor of Cross River State with my card in my polling unit. That it could not authenticate my finger prints shows clearly that if there is no alternative other than the card reader, a lot of people will be disenfranchised.”

    Continuing, the governor maintained that “there is a challenge and I think it is a function of the temperature which affects the reliability of ICT base of this nature, so it is expected that as Nigeria progresses in our democracy, it should adopt a technology that will reflect our peculiar climate and the nature of our people.”

    He added further that “our finger prints vary with our nature, kind of occupation and what we do because all of these come together but I believe there is a great room for improvement as well as the choice of the technology and technical support that can allow us bypass the technology that fails.”

    On whether the earlier postponement of the elections has in any way affected yesterday’s exercise, Ayade remarked that “the postponement could not have made a difference in any way as the enthusiasm is high, the social media has actually expanded the understanding of the people as every person of voting age is excited and wants to exercise his or her franchise.”

    On her part, wife of the governor, Dr Lynda Ayade enthused: “I am impressed as well as the crowd in this polling unit is a testimony that people really want to exercise their franchise peacefully.”

    She added that “except the challenge of the card reader in some occasions, you can see that the people are happy, I expect the best and hope that my party, the PDP wins.”

     

  • Election: PDP’s Jimi Agbaje complains of failed card reader

    The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Jimi Agbaje, on Saturday said he was concerned about the malfunctioning of the card readers during voting at his polling unit in Apapa.

    The PDP candidate spoke with newsmen after he and his wife, Biola, voted at polling unit 004,Ward A, Liverpool, Apapa around 11.20a.m.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the card reader had rejected Agbaje’s fingerprints, that of his wife and those of three other voters.

    They, however, eventually voted after their names and photographs were verified manually on the voter register.

    The PDP candidate said cases of malfunction of card readers were not good for the credibility of elections.

    He pointed out that manual verification of voters was susceptible to electoral fraud and unscrupulous elements could capitalise on it to compromise results.

    The PDP candidate said that the country should have gone beyond cases of failed card readers to achieve seamless voting.

    “Coming to my polling unit, I am concerned that the card readers are not working; the five, six of us, that came to vote before and after me, the card reader wasn’t working.

    “And that opens room to all kinds of insinuations, all kinds of mischief and for me, when you get a situation where you have to bypass the card reader, that means we haven’t gotten it right.

    “It means it is now open to all kinds of human manipulation because if a card reader doesn’t work, one can collude with one or two officials there, and with the wrong information, I will bypass the system.

    “That is the issue, because there is no room in that place for the agents to confirm that the person whose card did not work for the card reader is the owner of that card. So, games can be played,” he said.

    On his assessment of the process generally in the state, he said the election had been fine, except in one or two places.

    Agbaje praised residents for going out to vote, despite the disappointment of polls postponement to choose their leaders.

    He said polls postponement was wrong and should not feature in the country’s political life.

    The PDP candidate said he was more than confident that the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would emerge victorious in the election.

    NAN reports that there was an impressive turnout of voters at the polling unit, with many of them voting seamlessly.

  • 2019 elections: INEC card reader displays ‘voting completed’ in Delta

    Card reader deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections at one of the polling units in Delta State was displaying “voting completed”.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the INEC card reader was rejecting voters PVCs and displaying “voting completed” when INEC officials were about to start accreditation of voters.

    This was noticed at Ward 3, Polling Unit 1 in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.

    “Card reader not working. Card reader showing VOTING completed even without Accreditation,” a voter who failed the process of accreditation due to the card reader error told TNG.

    Meanwhile the INEC officials deployed at the polling unit were battling with rectifying the card reader error as at the time of filing this report.

     

  • Elections: Tinubu denies ownership of card reader manufacturing company

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has condemned Sahara Reporters for incorrectly linking him with a company called Act Technologies Limited.

    A statement issued by Tinubu Media Office yesterday said the APC leader has absolutely no relation to, or interest in, Act Technologies Limited.

    “He had never even heard of the company until the PDP (and its cronies in the media) started this campaign of calumny a few days ago.

    “Moreover, Asiwaju (Tinubu) has never been involved in the supply of card readers, voter registration and accreditation frameworks or any other materials or services to INEC. Never,” the statement added.

    According to it, SaharaReporters’ story is but an unfortunate and crude attempt to malign Asiwaju’s name.

    The statement titled ‘Response to Allegations in Saharareporters’ reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a false and reckless story published online by Sahara Reporters wrongfully accusing Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of electoral malpractice and incorrectly linking him with a company known as Act Technologies Limited.

    “If lies were sand, this story would be a desert. Perhaps the only thing this story manages to get correct is the spelling of Asiwaju’s name. However, the story is but an unfortunate and crude attempt to malign Asiwaju’s name.

    “Asiwaju has absolutely no relation to, or interest in, Act Technologies Limited. He had never even heard of the company until the PDP (and its cronies in the media) started this campaign of calumny a few days ago.

    “Moreover, Asiwaju has never been involved in the supply of card readers, voter registration and accreditation frameworks or any other materials or services to INEC. Never.

    “Let us be clear in this matter. If any political party was in control of INEC’s procurement practices in 2014/2015, it would have been the one in control of the federal government at that time.

    “Asiwaju never asked for, nor did he receive, anything or any contract from Jonathan’s government.

    “As incompetent as his administration was, even President Jonathan would not have sat idly by while important electoral contracts were being handed over to his most implacable political foe.

    “As often happens with fiction concocted by amateurs, the application of a little common sense causes the entire story to fall apart.

    “Even the technological aspects of the report are fantastical and unfounded. The whole thing simply makes no sense from a technical point of view. The report only makes sense as part of a concerted effort to attack Asiwaju.

    “Why the PDP and their media boosters fear him so much, we leave for them to answer. But it is odd that they expend so much time and energy manufacturing falsehoods against someone whose name will not even appear on any ballot.

    “This story is simply another effort by those opposed to President Buhari and the APC to justify their plans to distort the elections by alleging that the APC government is illegitimate and was rigged into office.

    “The only problem being that the facts do not support their claims nor their rationale for cheating.

    “These people are incurable. They do not rig because they were once victimised by rigging; they rig because rigging is not only in their blood, it is their blood.

    “Such arrant nonsense has no place in our national discourse.

    “Sahara Reporters has descended to a new low. To publish such an unfounded report is more than shoddy journalism; it is malicious.

    “The publication and its editors should be ashamed.”

     

  • 2019: We’ve achieved 95% configuration of Smart Card Readers – INEC

    2019: We’ve achieved 95% configuration of Smart Card Readers – INEC

    The Independent National Commission (INEC) on Tuesday said it has achieved 95 per cent configuration of the Smart Card Readers to be deployed for the Presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday.

    Briefing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja on the commission’s preparations for the postponed national elections, Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, promised that the configuration of the card readers would be completed on Wednesday.

    “You will recall in my last address to stakeholders on Saturday I mentioned that we intended to deployed card readers and we identified very clear time line for the delivery of the card readers.

    “I want to report that as at last night, we have achieved 95 per cent configuration of the 180,000 card readers and this process is going to be completed early morning on Wednesday, one day ahead of schedule.

    “We also told stakeholders that in response to appeal to the commission to extend the period of campaign by political parties, the commission yesterday also met with party leaders and extended the period for campaign to midnight of Thursday.

    “Because of the extension of state elections taking place on March 9, the commission hereby extends the campaign for that election to Thursday before the election date.

    Yakubu also disclosed that as at 4p.m. on Monday, all issues related to delivery of materials were identified and virtually addressed, saying ballot papers, result sheets and non-sensitive materials were now in locations across the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT.

    He added that INEC state offices also commenced the process of inviting stakeholders to the Central Banks to examine the materials recalled from last week as well as to witness the departure of materials to Local Government Areas (LGAs), which he said, would be completed today.

    Yakubu added that the deployment of all materials to local governments and wards would take place on Wednesday and Thursday, adding that all the Registration Areas would be activated by Thursday.

    The Chairman added that personnel and materials would also be at the Registration areas by midday on Friday, while refresher training for ad hoc to take place on Friday.

    “Personnel and materials must arrive at polling units latest 7 a.m. on Saturday and the opening of poll will take place by 8 on Saturday,’’ Yakubu assured.

    He said that INEC was committed to free, fair and credible elections, saying the commission was working hard to ensure that the elections take place as scheduled.

    He appealed for continued understanding by Nigerians and called on political parties to be mindful of their speech in order not to overheat the polity, saying that votes of Nigerians would determine the outcome of the elections.

    Yakubu said that the over 4600 extra card readers mopped up from state to replace the ones burnt at INEC office in Anambra would not in any way affect the number of card readers needed for other states.

    He also explained that no third party was involved in the configuration of the card readers, saying the management and configuration was being done by the commission’s ICT Department.

    He also denied report that one of the national commissioners was invited by security agencies, saying as we speak the commissioner you referred to is in his office.

    Yakubu also promised that the number of collected and uncollected Permanent Voter Cards would be made available on the commission’s website by Wednesday.

    On the directive that ballot snatchers should be shot, Yakubu said the position of the commission was that the provision of the law should be followed.

    Also asked if people in Borno State would take part in the elections, Yakubu said that the people in the Internally Displaced Camps would be allowed to participate.

    “But if there are new security situation that arise which the commission had not taken into consideration, that is a new thing that we did not planned for in 2019.

    “But what we know is that election will take place in substantial part of Borno State.