Protesting youths, under the umbrella of “Middle Belt Concerned Youths” on Wednesday, stormed the national headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, protesting the use of permanent voter cards (PVCs) and the card readers for the elections. This was just as they also called on the Federal Government to sack the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega with immediate effect. However, the youth, who arrived the Maitama headquarters of INEC in hired luxury buses around 8.00 a.m. were prevented by armed policemen and other security agents, who cordoned the INEC office. The youths, armed with various placards, were received by an Assistant Director in charge of security, Victor Egbo, on behalf of the commission. He received their protest letter with a promise to deliver same to the commission’s chairman.
They said they were at INEC to register their grievances against the use of the PVCs and card readers, because of what they said were the failures recorded during the recent mock exercise of last Saturday by the INEC.
President of the group, Yunusa Yusuf, declared that “judging from what transpired during the exercise, it had been proven that batteries of these card readers do not function for more than three hours. The question, therefore is, what happens if the battery fails during the election proper, especially in rural areas?” he queried.
Yusuf called on INEC to suspend the use of the PVCs and the card readers till 2019 general election, describing the success and credibility of the forthcoming elections as crucial to the survival of the country’s democracy.
Full Article: Protest rocks INEC over planned use of card readers.
