A chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state, Dickson Imasogie, has said the controversial card reader innovation will set the country on fire, if not well handled.
According to him, the card reader has not been tested and if it fails on the days of the elections, the result could be chaotic, Daily Independent reports.
He said: “The card reader is the best thing that can happen to Nigeria. But my fear is it has not been tested. And where there is failure it can set this country ablaze. Professor Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman, would have test-run this card reader with any of the bye-elections for one constituency and see the outcome.
“For him now to test-run it two weeks to the election, that is after the earlier date earmarked for the election. We even heard that in Kano it didn’t pick about 40 per cent of those tested. If it were to be a real election what do you think would happen in Kano? It would be riot. That is my only fear otherwise it is a good idea.”
He added that President Goodluck Jonathan deserves to be re-elected , saying he has done enough to impact on the lives of the Nigerian people.
The use of card readers for the upcoming elections has caused quite a stir, with some political parties opposing it.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier rejected an application by several political parties to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission from using electronic card readers in the upcoming elections.
Some days ago, the secretary to the Delta state government, Ovuozorie Macaulay, criticised the scheduled use of electronic card readers by the INEC, saying that there would be a national disaster if his advice was ignored.
