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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the non-removal of the protective film on the lens of some card readers by electoral officials was one the reasons why the equipment failed during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.
One of those affected was President Goodluck Jonathan who was unable to get accreditation with the electronic device when he turned up at his Unit 13 polling station in his hometown in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, to vote.
Speaking on Sunday in Abuja in a television programme, Kayode Idowu, the spokesperson to the INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, admitted that reports that the devices may have failed to function as a result of the non-removal of the protective film on the face of the lens of the card reader may have been true.
“We received reports that some of the card readers may have failed to function, because officials that handled the devices may have failed to remove the protective film covering on the face of lens,” he said.
He said the film may have blocked the lens of the card reader, making it difficult for it to read the biometric data in the permanent voters cards presented by voters for scanning.
The spokesperson, who admitted this was not the only flaw identified in the new electoral process deployed during the election, said INEC had taken note of the challenges and would effect corrections in subsequent elections to ensure that the exercise was more credible and acceptable.