“It shall be impossible to vote with a stolen voter’s card”- Jega

Extremely determined to conduct a free and fair election in 2015, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, has said that it will be impossible for any Nigerian to vote with stolen permanent voter card.

Jega, made this remark during a stakeholders’ meeting held in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, explained that measures had been put in place by INEC to forestall such election malpractice.

He stated that the electronic device used in producing the permanent voter cards would make it difficult for stolen voter cards to be used during the forthcoming exercise.

Jega, who was represented by the Supervisory National Commissioner in charge of the commission in Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers States, Mrs Thelma Iremiren, pointed out that using a stolen card would not serve any useful purpose for any errant voter.

He said, “INEC, in order to give further credibility to the electoral process, PVC will be used by all voters for accreditation and voting during the 2015 general election.

“The PVC will carry biometric data for each voter. Therefore, any attempt by anyone to use someone else’s PVC for voting will not be possible because the card reader, which will be used for accreditation is programmed to recognise biometric details of the genuine card holder.

“It will serve no useful purpose to present yourself at the polling unit with the card that is not your own,” Jega added.

The INEC boss, however, sought for the cooperation of stakeholders for the conduct of a hitch-free poll next year.

According to him, INEC was planning to use the PVC to give credibility to the forthcoming election.

Source: Punch