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General Buhari, according to indications from across the country, got the nod of most voters in the Northwest, Northcentral, Northeast and Southwest, in what observers, local and foreign, described as the nation’s most crucial polls ever.
His performance matches substantially The Nation’s projections on the elections.
Nigerians defied all odds -erratic performance of the card readers, late arrival of electoral materials, rain, thuggery, manipulation and terrorism mainly in the Northeast -to troop out possibly as never before to vote for the next president, senators and members of the House of Representatives.
In Sokoto, Makurdi, Akure, Jos, Minna, Abeokuta, Abuja, Lagos, Benin, the story was the same of enthusiastic Nigerians determined to take their destiny in their hands.
General Buhari, accompanied by his wife, Aisha, voted in his Daura, Katsina home town after accreditation with the aid of the card reader which took no more than two minutes each.
But accreditation was a tough nut for President Goodluck Jonathan and the First Lady, Patience , at the president’s Otuoke hometown.
Four times they tried to use the card reader to verify their finger prints, four times they failed.
The President’s mother, Madam Eunice, passed the card reader’s test easily.
Jonathan’s verification and his wife’s were eventually done manually, the same method adopted in other places where the card reader failed.
INEC extends voting; website hacked into, restored
Following complaints from other parts of the country about the inability of the card readers to identify voters’ finger prints, and to avoid disenfranchising voters, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) granted extension of voting till today at polling stations where accreditation could not be completed on time yesterday.
As it battled with complaints of malfunctioning card readers, a group calling itself Nigerian Cyber Army/Team NCA hacked into the commission’s website
However, INEC’s computer engineers went to work as soon as the hacking was detected and were able to re-host it.
The hackers posted the following on the website: “StruCk By Nigerian Cyber Army | TeaM NCA”
“Sorry xD Your Site has been STAMPED by TeaM Nigerian Cyber Army FEEL SOME SHAME ADMIN!!”
“Security is just an illusion, Remember US :DGREETINGS OF PEACE TO CITIZEN OF NIGERIA FROM TEAM NCA NIGERIANS No Body Can Give You Freedom No Body Can Give You Equality Or Justice If You Are A Man/Woman YOU TAKE IT”
The Commission directed all Resident Electoral Commissioners in the country to conduct election on Sunday in areas where there were hitches.
The list of the affected areas and states was still being kept under wraps as at the time of filing this report.
INEC however said it could not still exactly say what went wrong in Otuoke, Bayelsa State which led to the delay in the accreditation of President Jonathan and his wife.
The Chairman of the Information, Voter Education and Publicity Committee of INEC, Dr. Chris Iyimoga, at a press conference in Abuja admitted that INEC encountered some challenges in the use of Card Readers.
He said the guidelines for the 2015 General Elections had been amended to empower Presiding Officers to “manually accredit voters by marking the register of voters, upon being satisfied that the person presenting a Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) is the legitimate holder of the card.”
Flanked by other National Commissioners including Dr. Ishmael Igbani; Alh. Muhammadu Wali; Nuru Yakubu; and Gladys Nwafor, Iyimoga said INEC will “thoroughly investigate what happened in some parts of the country where hitches were recorded.”
His words: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been monitoring field reports on the accreditation process since the commencement of the poll this morning.
“Whereas the process has gone well in several places, in some others it has encountered some challenges, especially with the use of the Card Readers. Consequently, accreditation has been slow in many places and has not commenced at all in some others.
“Even though the Guidelines for the Conduct of the 2015 General Elections provide that where Card Readers fail to work and cannot be replaced, elections in such Polling Units will be postponed to the following day, the scale of challenge we have observed today has necessitated a reconsideration of this provision of the Guidelines.
“The Commission, has, therefore, decided as part of the Guidelines for the conduct of the 2015 General Elections that in Polling Units where Card Readers have so far failed to work, the Presiding Officer shall manually accredit voters by marking the register of voters, upon being satisfied that the person presenting a Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) is the legitimate holder of the card.
“The above notwithstanding, in Polling Units where accreditation was suspended to the following day in accordance with the existing guidelines, arrangements will be made for voters to vote tomorrow, subject to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010( as amended).
“The Commission reassures the voting public that it will thoroughly investigate what happened, while it remains committed to the delivery of free, fair and credible elections in spite of the challenges.”
Iyimoga, who responded to questions from newsmen with his fellow National Commissioners, said all the 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners(RECs) had been directed to conduct poll on Sunday where there were hitches.
He added: “We cannot say at the word go now but each REC of the Federation has been informed. The problems are not in all the states of the country but in a few states of the country and each of the RECs has been informed. We can only get the details at the end of the day.
He said generally the commencement time was quite good across all borders.
He said: “Generally we commenced accreditation at a very good time, in FCT for instance we had a problem with the Union of Transport workers but that was sorted out.
“I want to assure we have made progress,. In fact I had to vsit the office of Resident Electoral Commissioner of the FCT and while there two observer teams, including that of the US Ambassador, were on ground to see us. They had gone round a number of Polling Units and at about 12 noon, about 85-90 per cent where he visited he was very impressed. And this cuts across. This does not mean we don’t have challenges in other states.
“In a few other states of course there were still some challenges but generally the commencement time was quite good across all borders.
“Like we said and we will keep saying, we can only do our best but there are still other parameters that take us through what we can call an excellent election.
“The process of election has to do with many people. Remember that for our adhoc staff to move out, for instance, we decided to decentralize the process. Sensitive materials were kept in the CBN vault and in one of the day or so they were taken to INEC offices in the states.
“By Thursday they were distributed to Local Government Areas, and then took them down toward level and at the Registration Area Centres (RACS) the items were kept. The belief therefore was that as early as 5.30 to 6am, movement to the various Polling Units would have commenced but INEC does not move alone, before you move there must be security backup.
“So there are numbers of issues and processes that go through making the entire thing play well. Generally it has been quite impressive apart from these few challenges I just talked about right now.
On the delay in accrediting President Goodluck Jonathan and First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, a National Commissioner, Dr. Ishmael Igbani, said INEC could not say what went wrong.
Igbani said: “No one can really say what went wrong. The machine, the Card Reader did not pick the finger print of Mr President and Wife but those who were attended to earlier on their finger prints were picked.
“But part of the process in using the Card Reader is that when such a situation occurs, we will use the incident report and that is what the President and the wife were accredited to vote.”
Regarding the hacking of INEC website, Engr. Nuru Yakubu said all the contents on the website had been relocated to another site.He said: “Our ICT experts reported that our website was hacked and that it was down, and they worked very hard and were able to rectify the problem by simple lifting all the contents on our site and relocating it to another location.
“So the INEC website as I speak with you now is up and running.”
I hope to win, says Jonathan after voting
President Jonathan, after his accreditation, later returned to polling Unit 39, Ward 13 to cast his vote.
Asked by reporters about his chances in the election, he said “You can see that it’s peaceful everywhere. I believe and I’m convinced that the elections will be free and fair and extreme credible.”
He said the gunfire in Gombe was not related to election, adding that the shooting was between soldiers and insurgents attempting to escape from the Sambisa forest.
The president refused to blame the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the hitches encountered in some areas, saying everyone could still vote with the alternative arrangements.
“We appreciate the patience of those who are yet to vote. They should sympathise with INEC. It wants to use the card readers to make sure that our electoral process is credible and acceptable by international observers.
“This is the first time we are voting with the card readers. There have been some issues in some units, but we should bear with them. I believe that at the end of the day we all will be happy,” Jonathan said.
Asked about his assessment of the election based on information available to him, he said: “I have information but it is not everything that I can say. INEC has the responsibility to talk about their functions. There are complaints about PVCs and card readers not working.
“At the same time INEC has directed that in polling units where the card readers are not working, they should take the manual option, so I believe all Nigerians who want to vote will definitely vote, and that is the good news.
“The only thing is that some people probably must have stayed there longer than necessary. But I still plead with them that even if they spend 24 hours for the sake of this country, please they should bear with us, they should do it,” he said.
On INEC, Jonathan said the government is one, and the commission cannot be held solely responsible for the hitches.
He said: “I don’t blame anyone. But as a nation, we have different departments of government that handle responsibilities. The issue of election is INEC’s exclusive responsibility, and nobody will speak for them.”
Few hiccups can’t undermine these election, says Buhari
Gen. Buhari, speaking to reporters in Daura after voting at Sarkin Yara A, Kofa Barau 3 polling unit in Liman ward said the hiccups in a few places should not be allowed to undermine the integrity of the election.
The General who was wore a white babanriga , a stipend cap and black shoes to match arrived the polling unit at about 4.47 to a rousing reception and shouts of Sai Baba by voters who were practically falling over each other to catch a glimpse of him.
He said: ” I like the integrity of the system. I am very pleased about it. That means that if people are allowed to vote, rigging will be virtually impossible. I think that INEC has done very well and I have said it to your colleagues elsewhere that from their presentations to the National Council of States which I happened to be a member, this time around, INEC has done extremely well”.
He however admitted that the card reader failed to work in some areas, put expressed satisfaction with the decision of INEC to allow election to hold on Sunday in places where elections could not hold on Saturday.
“I must admit that again, I am happy with the decision take by INEC that in places where election has not taken place, it will take place tomorrow. From the information we are getting which has not been confirmed, there is failure of some of the card readers.
“For example, it took me less than five minutes for accreditation. When I came back home, I was watching on television and it took the President about 30 minutes to be accredited. But it took his wife and mother about two minutes each to do it. There is discrepancy in the performance of those gadgets. For INEC to give the notice that because of failure in some of the equipment, elections will continue tomorrow where elections did not happen today”.
On whether he would accept the outcome of the election if the results did not go his own way, he said “My way is Nigeria’s way . Even before the first Abuja peace accord,I had told my supporters not to be rude or take up weapon against any Nigerian.
“After that, we signed the first Abuja accord presided over by Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations which we all signed as Presidential candidates and the recent one signed three days ago between me and Jonathan presided over by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Bishop Kukah and Bishop Onaiyekon and two others.
Speaking on the alleged intimidation of APC supporters in Rivers State, Buhari said he spoke with Governor Rotimi Amaechi ” and I think that what has been happening in Rivers state is a continuation of the hostility between the ruling party the APC. It is so real and the governor has been fighting and today, it got out of hand. ”
Sambo reverts to old polling booth
Vice-President Namadi Sambo and his wife, Amina relocated from their old polling unit, Camp Road to Swimming Pool Road in Kabala Ward in Kaduna to vote yesterday .
The development might not be unconnected with the outright defeat the VP faced in all the polls in the 2011 general elections.
But, Sambo’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Umar Sani, said, the VP only reverted to his original polling unit and commended INEC for bringing back Sambo and his wife to their original polling unit.
Sambo himself who spoke to newsmen shortly after casting his votes, described the exercise as smooth and peaceful.
?Meanwhile, ?a man suspected to have fixed a network jammer in his car to disrupt the card readers escaped being lynched by irritate youths who queued to be accredited at Kasuwan Barchi area of Tudun Wada in Kaduna metropolis.
According to an eyewitness, the suspect jammed card readers at a polling unit in Tudun Wada from his car packed close to the polling unit.
His manipulation was said to have succeeded in stopping the card readers from working for some times.
Card Reader dysfunction not severe – PDP chair, Mu’azu
Reacting yesterday to complaints about the card readers,the PDP National Chairman, Malam Adamu Mu’azu, said the situation was not as bad as being portrayed.
The percentage of the technical hitches encountered with the card readers during the accreditation was not beyond tolerance, he said in his Boto, Bauchi State hometown.
He rejected calls for the cancellation of the use of Card Reader machines for the accreditation of voters.
“I cannot arbitrarily call for the cancellation of the usage of the Card Readers and the Permanent Voter Cards. I know professor Jega to be a successful and courageous intellectual and so far he has done very well,” Premium Times quoted him as saying.
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