to chance as it has beefed up security around the smart card readers
to be used during the March 28 and April 11 elections. The adoption of
the card readers for the general election has attracted a lot of
controversies.
On March 14, there was a fire incident at the warehouse of the
electoral body in Abuja which lasted for two hours. Non-sensitive
materials such as envelopes, voter education materials and bags for
conveying electoral materials to registration areas were completely
burnt.
This has raised fears in many quarters about the safety of the card
readers with six days left to the March 28 presidential election.
The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told
PUNCH that measures had been put in place to secure the card readers.
He said, "They are very secure from arson, stealing, vandalism or any
other effort to disrupt the elections.
"It is not only card readers we are using for these elections. We are
using a lot of other materials. We are also using ballot boxes,
cubicles, etc. Those are all election materials and they are secured
and are well protected. Where they are now, they are safe.
"INEC deploys these materials along the lines of the structures. We
deploy from the national headquarters to the state offices. The state
offices deploy to the council offices. The council offices deploy to
the registration area centres, which in turn deploy to the polling
units. They cannot be intercepted on the way; they are not sent by
post."
Checks by our correspondents around the 36 states and Abuja showed
that the card readers had already been deployed to the states.
However, the actual location of these cards is only known to the
Resident Electoral Commissioners and a few trusted staff of the
commission under whose watch the cards are.
This development, according to some of the RECs, is born out of
anticipated threats such as theft and arson against the safety of the
card readers.
The Ondo State REC, Olusegun Agbaje, told one of our correspondents
that only he, the administrative secretary, who is his deputy, and the
head of Information and Communications Technology knew where the card
readers were being kept.
He said, "It is not necessary for everybody to know where the card
readers are kept. The important thing is that they are safe and
secure. I know that you are concerned about the safety of the card
readers, but we are even more concerned and have taken measures to
ensure that they are safe. Armed security men are watching over them."
In confirmation of the secrecy surrounding the location of the card
readers, the REC in Delta State, Mr. Anidi Ikowak, refused to disclose
to our correspondent where they were kept in his domain.
Ikowak said the card readers were safe. He said, "I can't tell you
where the card readers are but I want to say that they are safe. The
card readers for the elections cannot function until the March 28.
There are so many features that make it to function only on the 28th.
And after 28, it will not function again until you reconfigure it for
another election, April 11."
The Kogi State REC, Mr. Hussain Pai, in a telephone interview with one
of our correspondents, also said the location of the card readers were
not known to the public.
Pai said, "The card readers are kept in a secret and special place
such that the public are not aware of the place."
Pai, who spoke through the state INEC spokesperson, Mr. Matthew Ameh,
stated that the commission had made adequate security arrangements to
ensure the safety of the card readers and other materials.
He added, "We have been meeting with all heads of security agencies
through the platform of Inter-Agency Committee on Election Security.
So far, security is not one of our challenges. We have a committee
made of the Army, Navy, Police, Immigration, Civil Defence and others.
We have really gone far with them and everything is okay. We have
appropriate measure against fire disasters; if there is any disaster,
the inferno will be put off."
His Kwara State counterpart, Dr. Emmanuel Onucheyo, in a telephone
interview with PUNCH correspondents through the spokesperson of the
commission in the state, Mr. Jacob Ayanda, said the location of the
card readers was confidential.
Onucheyo said, "Only the head of the store section and the Head of ICT
have access to the place where the card readers are kept. The card
readers are kept in a special place.
Read more at PUNCH:
http://www.punchng.com/news/inec-moves-card-readers-to-secure-secret-locations/
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