No plan to shift elections –Ekiti REC

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ekiti State, Mr.
Sam Olumekun, has debunked the rumour making the rounds
that the February general elections will be postponed,
stressing, “we are not contemplating changing the dates of
elections.”
Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, Olumekun
identified the use of smart card reader as an antidote to all
forms of malpractices afflicting the nation’s electoral system.
Olumekun declared the readiness of the electoral umpire, the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct
free, fair and credible general elections in February.
He explained that although the 2011 polls were widely
acknowledged to be credible, some flaws noticed in the
elections made INEC to go back to the drawing board to
fashion out a strategy to curtail malpractices in future
elections.
Olumekun said this necessitated the resolve of the commission
to use smart card readers in the conduct of the 2015 general
elections.
The INEC chief said the device would electronically confirm
prospective voters during accreditation and record them
centrally, which would prevent over-voting and other
malpractices.
His words: “The era of electoral malpractices are gone for
good and those that will be elected will be truly the choice of
the electorate and we are going to deliver free, fair and
credible elections.
“INEC went back to the drawing board after some flaws were
noticed during the 2011 elections and we decided to raise the
technological content of the electoral process.
“The smart card reader will enable us to authenticate the
number of voters. Today, if you have the the Permanent Voter
Cards (PVCs), the smart card reader will accredit you and
prepare you for voting.
“Simultaneously as we are accrediting you, we also know the
number of voters. This will add value and credibility to the
electoral process.
“Some African countries have been using it, we are adopting
this model in our bid to be the best election management
agency in Africa and one of the method is to introduce the
smart card reader”.
The REC said INEC in Ekiti State has taken delivery of 1,555
smart card readers so far saying more are still being
expected.
Olumekun disclosed that the total number of registered voters
in the state is 732, 776 including the transferred cases while
there are 2, 289 voting points.
He revealed that total number of PVCs distributed in the state
is 488, 029 made up of 241, 649 males and 246, 400.
Olumekun added that the Commission is training ad hoc
personnel made up of corps members and senior officials of
federal government agencies in the state