The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will not use incident form in 2019 elections as the card reader will be effectively utilised.
Prof. Francis Ezeonu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Imo, said this at a Town Hall Meeting/Sensitisation Campaign of the commission on Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government area of Imo.
He said the commission was upgrading the card reader machine to make it more functional and effective during elections.
He told the participants and politicians that the era of playing pranks with people’s permanent voter cards during elections was gone, adding that anyone with a card that the card reader did not recognise would be disfranchised and would not be given any incident form.
Ezeonu said accreditation and voting would start simultaneously to avoid long queues and time wastage during elections.
He advised politicians and party faithful to ensure they did their home work well when campaigns commenced, adding that any plan to rig in whatever form would be a waste of time and effort.
“The essence of politics is development. Candidates should ensure they sincerely work towards getting the people’s mandate. Hijacking election materials will not work in 2019 elections,” he said.
Mrs Immanuela Ben-Opara, the Head of Voters Education in INEC, had earlier educated the stakeholders on the need for proper conduct during elections and for them to register to have their PVCs.
Some stakeholders during interaction commended the Imo REC on its efforts to ensure free and fair elections. (NAN)
