The Independent National
Electoral Commission (lNEC) says it will continue to use and deploy the Smart
Card Reader(SCR) in all elections, including that of Saturday’s rerun election
in Kogi West Senatorial District, Ajaokuta Federal Constituency and Sabuwa
State Constituency.
The Commission disclosed this in
a statement issued by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and
Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye, on Thursday in Abuja, NAN reports.
INEC said that the clarification
became necessary in the light of remarks attributed to Okoye at a programme by
the Situation Room, which gave the impression that Smart Card Readers were no
longer useful in the electoral process.
“To the contrary, the National
Commissioner spoke in the context of attempts by some political interests to
willfully by-pass the Smart Card Reader (SCR) during elections to inflate their
votes.
“They do this against the
backdrop of the Supreme Court decision that the SCR is not to be used
exclusively to determine over-voting.”
It explained that the commission
introduced the SCR in the electoral process principally as an additional
confirmatory and authentication tool.
It added that the tool was to
determine the authenticity of cards presented by voters and eliminate
impersonation, which were serious challenges to the electoral process in
Nigeria.
INEC said that the SCR was
designed to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and eliminate
multiple voting.
“In accordance with Section 49(1
& 2) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and Clause paragraph 10(a) of
INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, a person
intending to vote with his voter’s card shall be verified to be the same person
on the Register of Voters by use of the Card SCR.
“Furthermore, by paragraph 10(bi
of the said Regulations and Guidelines. “Any Poll Official who violates the
provisions of paragraph 10(a) relating to the use of the Smart Card Reader
shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to prosecution”.
It reminded political parties,
candidates, poll agents and the electorate that resistance to the use of the
SCR and obstruction and resistance to the deployment/distribution of electoral
materials constituted unlawful truncation of the electoral process.
The commission warned that
consequently zero votes would be entered for the affected polling unit.
“The commission will continue to
work with the National Assembly and all the critical stakeholders to reduce
malpractices in our electoral process, including over voting.
“As part of this process,
strengthening the legal basis of the use of the SCR, as well as other
amendments that will advance the electoral process would be vigorously pursued.
“The commission will also
continue to work with the security agencies and other stakeholders to prevent
individuals and/or groups from undermining the use and application of the Smart
Card Reader in elections.”
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