Former Minister of State for Works and chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, has urged Nigerians to boycott the March 28, 2015 presidential elections if the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, bows to the pressure to abandon the use of card readers for the elections.
He described the controversy over the card readers as shocking and unnecessary.
He said: “It means those opposed to it don’t want inventions, they don’t want us to make progress as a nation and that is funny. If they don’t like inventions, why do they always travel? They should have remained in Nigeria and continued with their old ways of life.
“The truth is that Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has nothing more to offer Nigerians so they are looking for an escape route. I don’t expect the PDP to say no to the use of card readers. How will they do that when there was a budget provision for the card readers? The Nigerian people paid for it, they have tested the card readers and they are functional. Even in India where they have huge population of 60 million, they use card readers.
“Because it has been known to work very well, every right thinking Nigerian has subscribed to the fact that this is the only proof for accountability and sincerity. For me the card reader is imperative for this election. Without card readers I will advise Nigerians, whether PDP or APC, to stay away from the elections. First, we should query the wasting of that much money buying an item they don’t intend to use.
“Failure to use it, the Nigerian people should stay away from the elections. We must adhere to international norms that are now recommending card readers for elections unless some Nigerians have made up their minds to truncate this electoral process. I don’t pray they truncate it because the people have made up their minds to have a credible election this time around.”
He described the controversy over the card readers as shocking and unnecessary.
He said: “It means those opposed to it don’t want inventions, they don’t want us to make progress as a nation and that is funny. If they don’t like inventions, why do they always travel? They should have remained in Nigeria and continued with their old ways of life.
“The truth is that Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has nothing more to offer Nigerians so they are looking for an escape route. I don’t expect the PDP to say no to the use of card readers. How will they do that when there was a budget provision for the card readers? The Nigerian people paid for it, they have tested the card readers and they are functional. Even in India where they have huge population of 60 million, they use card readers.
“Because it has been known to work very well, every right thinking Nigerian has subscribed to the fact that this is the only proof for accountability and sincerity. For me the card reader is imperative for this election. Without card readers I will advise Nigerians, whether PDP or APC, to stay away from the elections. First, we should query the wasting of that much money buying an item they don’t intend to use.
“Failure to use it, the Nigerian people should stay away from the elections. We must adhere to international norms that are now recommending card readers for elections unless some Nigerians have made up their minds to truncate this electoral process. I don’t pray they truncate it because the people have made up their minds to have a credible election this time around.”
