INEC insists using PVC will curb rigging

The Independent National Electoral Commissioner in Charge of Lagos, Ondo and Osun States,
Prof. Akinola Salawu and Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Segun Agbaje, on
Monday said there is no going back in the usage of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in the
general elections.
Salawu, who spoke with reporters when on a courtesy visit to Ondo State INEC headquarters in
Akure, said using PVC would add value to the elections.
The national commissioner explained that the use
of the smart will enrich the electoral system and guarantee free,
fair and credible election.
The INEC boss assured that the commission is above board and not partisan, noting that the
decision to use the smart card is not to favor any political party but to add value to the election.
He reiterated that the commission is prepared
better than the 2011.
Also, Agbaje, who had earlier spoken on Adaba FM Private Radio Station in Akure and monitored
by our reporter before the rival of his boss, informed that 70.7 percent of PVCS have been
distributed in the State.
On the Radio Programme, the State REC said “There is electronic voting in most countries but law
does not allow it in Nigeria. So, what we did is to use the card readers in order to add value to
the electoral system.
“Any electronic item can have problem at any time. But these are new card readers. They have
been tested in some area councils I FCT. We know that they have high degree of reliability. We
also have backup in case of any problem.
“We are going to keep some quantities at the wards so that if there is any problem, they can
change the machine of rectify the problem.
“We have take delivery of more than 3060. what we need. We have 3009 polling unit. We will have
one card reader for each polling unit. There will also be polling points which are going to assist
that you don’t waste people’s time on that day. The card readers can last for ten hour. We can’t
use it more than five hours, at most six hours.
“In Ondo state, we were give a total number of 1, 494, 169 cards by the national headquaters. Out
of these, we have so far distributed 1,057,066 representing 70.7 percent of what we received. It
remains 437, 032 or 29.3 percent”, he disclosed.