…Says 0.25 Card Readers Failed out of 150,000
Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru
Jega, has warned against the posting unauthenticated election results
online, saying such constitutes an offence under the electoral laws.
Jega at a press conference said only INEC has the rights under the laws to
announce election results.
He said only .0.25 per cent of card readers failed out of the 150, 000
card readers deployed.
The INEC chairman also reiterated the resolve to ensure that election
results are announced with the 24hours time after polls.
In Gombe State, Jega stated that reports reaching the electoral body
indicated that suspected Boko Haram attacked and killed two INEC ad-hoc
staff.
He stated that INEC has commenced investigation of the underage voter
discovered in Taraba. Jega added that other underage voters who were
reported by observers would be investigated.
He also promised that INEC is also investigating reports that some INEC
Ad-hoc staffs were substituted. He said through INEC’s list of Ad-Hoc
staff, the body will find out if such ever happens.
Jega promised that all cases of electoral malpractices reported to INEC
would be thoroughly investigated. He noted that the electoral agency has
discovered lot of lapses but that they are all lessons for future
elections.
He applauded the conduct of the elections and promised that INEC will make
amends where necessary.
The INEC chairman also dismissed reports that the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, has won in 23 states. He said the electoral body is yet to
receive results in majority of the states in the country, warning the
public and journalists to disregard such reports especially from some
online (not Pointblanknews.com).
He said only two states have completely collated while others are at
different stages.
He said the only results that would be announced are those collated by
Collation officers. He said only original collation results from Collation
Officers would be announced.
The INEC chairman said no collation will be done by INEC until all
stakeholders and the media are informed.
He said the number of ineffective card readers is a surprise as most of
the INEC staff received training for it.
He dispelled rumor that the electoral agency was under pressure to declare
elections inconclusive
He denied receiving any report that State Governors were summoning INEC
officials. He reiterated INEC’s independence.