Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State On Thursday threw more light on the growing concerns over the deployment of card readers for the March 28 election and others.
According to the governor, who is also Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, the concerns centre on the worksbility of the computer-based machines in parts of the country, especially in the rural areas.
Some parties, championed by the Peoples Dmocratic Party (PDP), has expressed apprehension of stakeholders over the viability of card readers which the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, plans to deploy for the reschedule elections.
They would want the INEC to revert to the use of Temporal VotersCard (TVC), which was effectively deployed in 2011 elections, which were adjudged free and fair by most observers.
Aliyu spoke to State House correspondents after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan Thursday.
According to him, political parties are worried that there may be difficulties in the use of the card reader especially in the rural areas.
“I think we are still discussing that matter. The concern of many people is that the card reader may have difficulties particularly in the rural areas but we have been told that if they are charged, they will be okay.
“The stand of many of the political parties is that where you have difficulties, what happens?
“I remember when they were registering me for the National Identity card. For me alone, it took about one hour. Suppose there are difficulties in the polling units where you have 500 people and it takes the card reader a long time to do.
“I understand INEC is going to conduct elementary ways of finding out whether that is possible. The moment the parties are convinced, I think it will be okay,” the governor said.
He is however confident that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would triumph in the general general elections in his state irrespective of the efforts of the opposition.
The governor said people should ignore the propaganda replete in the social media as according to him, the majority of Nigerian voters knew nothing about the social media
“I have a grip on the politics of Niger State, the PDP will win Niger state. The thing is that when people are good in propaganda, sometimes the people themselves will believe the propaganda. The noise makers don’t even vote.
“Some people who can’t even win their village, they are called Abuja politicians, they will rush to Abuja and start castigating those who are in the ground. We have no problem in Niger State as far as PDP is concerned,” he noted.
Speaking on the disagreement between him and his deputy, Musa Ibeto, he said that Ibeto ought to have resigned from his position since he decided to leave the PDP, adding that he did not eject the deputy governor from state executive council meeting as was reported in the media.
“We were elected on the same ticket and morally if you decide to cut away from that ticket, it will mean you should resign but our political culture has not gone to that level,
“I hope we will reach a situation that the society will demand that we voted you under this party, no matter the difficulties, three months to election, you decide to decamp.
“We are competing now, at least in competition and you sit down and listen to everything and you carry to the other side.
“I didn’t walk him out of the meeting. We said how he resolves this morality matter and he said to me, ‘excuse me while the council will decide on the matter.’
“Secondly, on the 18th of February, I was already planning on the 19th of February to leave for Saudi Arabia when I saw his letter on my table saying he was going to leave on the same day and he was in Abuja attending APC meeting,
“I assumed he was going and there is nothing legally or technically that prevents me from giving the Speaker. Nothing has been abused,” the governor argued.
