Election: INEC re-configures, deploys 3,288 Card Readers in Ebonyi — REC

Prof. Godswill Obioma, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ebonyi, says 3,288 reconfigured Smart Card Readers will be used in the state for the February 23 and March 9, elections.
Obioma disclosed this at a news conference on Wednesday in Abakaliki, adding that arrangements had been made for the smooth conduct of the rescheduled Presidential and National Assembly elections.
He added that all sensitive materials for the election were still in the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ebonyi Branch, where they were being sorted and batched for movement to the various Registration Area Camps.
He said that the exercise at the CBN were being done under heavy security surveillance and monitoring by the accredited state party agents of all the registered political parties in Ebonyi.
The REC further explained that the commission ensured that vehicles for the movement of election officials and materials were fitted with tracking devices to monitor their movement.
He said that the officials of the commission and party state agents were at the CBN on Sunday and Monday for a review and recheck of election items that were kept at the volt of the bank.
He emphasised that the objective was to know if the items were complete or whether there were short falls, to report to the INEC Headquarters in Abuja for quick intervention.
He said: “We have 3,288 smart card readers already reconfigured, charged and ready for deployment to the local government areas in readiness for the presidential and national elections.
“The card readers were originally configured with February 16 and March 2, dates but the rescheduling affected the configuration hence the need to reconfigure.
“Here in Ebonyi, we have put the card readers in batches according to local government areas, charged the batteries and have ensured that all the machines are in proper working condition.
“Sorting and batching of all sensitive materials local government by local government are going on at the Abakaliki branch of the CBN under heavy security watch and supervision of accredited party state agents.
“All sensitive materials are sealed and we have ensured that we maintain high level of transparency, credibility and openness in every level of our engagement process.”
He added that transportation, security and other logistic arrangements needed for smooth, credible and successful conduct of the elections were already in place.
Meanwhile, the state agent of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Edwin Okeh, and his Peoples Democratic Party counterpart, Ali Odefa, have commended INEC for transparency, credibility and openness in handling the distribution of the materials.
Okeh and Odefa, who spoke to newsmen in separate interviews at the CBN, described the process as impeccable though tedious and analogue.
According to them, the commission is involving all parties at every state of the sorting, batching and distribution of the materials.
They said: “INEC in Ebonyi has shown that it is capable of conducting credible and transparent elections in the state; we are impressed at the openness, transparency and credibility of the distribution process of the sensitive election materials.”