Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has kicked against use of Incident Forms in the upcoming 2019 elections.
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stick to smart card readers and permanent voter cards.
Atiku, in a statement made available to okay by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, said the development was unacceptable to him and his party, PDP.
The former president also noted that he was concerned about reports that contrary to the 2018 promise by the Independent National Electoral Commission at different times and locations that it would not use the controversial incident forms, INEC had allegedly backtracked and decided to allow the use of incident forms which he said were unreliable.
He said, “There are no reliable and accurate means of knowing who those voters were and whether they were genuine voters or sham voters. This disproportionate number of voters who voted without biometric accreditation in 2015 affected the integrity of those elections and we hold the INEC to its oft-repeated promise not to use anything but the smart card readers and PVCs for the 2019 elections.
“We know that the Muhammadu Buhari administration has been desperate to avoid the use of smart card readers and PVCs for the 2019 elections and the reported volte face by the INEC can only raise concerns about the voice of Jacob and the hand of Esau.”
Atiku also reminded Mahmood of his promise to Nigerians at the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room National Stakeholders’ Forum on Elections which held in Abuja on December 10, 2018, where he said as follows:
“The commission assures Nigerians that the smart card reader has become an integral part of the electoral process and will be deployed for the conduct of the 2019 General Elections. The commission has taken onboard the challenges and glitches faced in the use and deployment of smart card readers in 2015 and has made significant improvements and upgrade to the said smart card readers.” he quoted.
