By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA—A coalition of  over 60 Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, yesterday, insisted on the full use and deployment of the Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, and Card Reader Machines, CRM, for the general elections.

The group, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said its insistence on the use of both the PVC and CRM was based on the outcome of the mock election conducted in select states last Saturday by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Though the CSOs, under the aegis of Nigerian Situation Room, rated the mock exercise as fairly successful, it decried the low turnout of voters for the exercise due to INEC’s inadequate sensitisation and urged INEC to intensify its efforts on voter education and civic education on why and how to vote with PVC.

The Situation Room is made up of CSOs working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria and includes Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, PLAC; CLEEN Foundation; Action Aid Nigeria; Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD; Enough is Enough Nigeria; Wangonet; Partners for Electoral Reform; JDPC and Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement, YIAGA, and CWAE.

Others are Development Dynamics, Human Rights Monitor, Election Monitor, Reclaim Naija, Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, CITAD, Stakeholder Democracy Network, SDN, CISLAC and several others.

The group said it deployed observers that monitored the field test of the smart Card Readers in 225 polling units and 358 voting centres across 12 states of last Saturday.

They urged INEC to endeavour to make alternative Card Readers available and accessible on election day to avoid unnecessary delay.