The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega has expressed his optimism that in spite of the hitches that were experienced in certain parts of the country, the card readers, which were introduced in 2015, have helped in increasing the credibility of the polls.
Speaking late on Saturday, March 28, 2015, Jega said that the commission had learnt hard lessons from the process, which would be improved upon in subsequent elections.
Speaking on the election in general and the continuation of elections in certain parts of the country, Jega said: “Places where elections where rescheduled, the processes and timing of voting still remain the same.
“If you recall, in 2011, we were able to declare results within 48 hours; the presidential election result was out within 48 hours. We’ve done everything possible to improve the process of collation and return. And we believe that this improvement should reflect in our ability to not only declare within 48 hours, but also in a better time than we were able to do in 2011.
“Regrettably, when I said we will do our best to declare the result within 48 hours, some people already started saying it’s only because Jega has a rigging plan, that is why he’s saying he can declare results in 48 hours.
“I was merely expressing our wish and our hope that given all improvement that we have made and given the fact that in 2011, we did it within 44 hours, we should be able to do it within 48 hours this time around, and God willing, we are working very hard on that.”
On the issue of card readers, Jega said: “Yes, absolutely. We’ve learnt very hard lessons, but we’ve always said that we should not be hostages to our own fears.
“You know, if there are things we believe are good that can add value, of course you have to take care in planning them and implementing them. You should not succumb to your fears and throw away things that can add value and integrity to the electoral process.
“We believe that in spite of these challenges, the card reader has still added substantial credibility to this 2015 elections.”
