By Henry Umoru and Gabriel Ewepu

AHEAD of the general elections, slated for March 28 and April 11, a group, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Integrity Vanguard, said it would be an invitation to anarchy if the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, goes ahead with the use of smart card reader machines for accreditation.

Meanwhile, the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) has thrown its weight behind the use of the machines.

In a statement by the National Coordinator, PDP Integrity Vanguard and pioneer National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Senator Aniete Okon, and Chief Sergeant Awuse, they warned that Jega’s move to use the card reader machines was an intention to undermine the forthcoming elections against the backdrop that many eligible voters would be disenfranchised.

In the statement titled, “Jega and his card reader, an invitation to anarchy”, Okon and Awuse said, “The PDP Integrity Vanguard restates its commitment to democracy and democratic values. Our cause is to ensure that no Nigerian is unduly disenfranchised while making sure that only the votes that should count end up being counted. The organization rejects in totality the use of card readers and Incident Forms and insists that INEC must, in the interest of all that is true, noble and equitable, revert to the updated voter register. To do otherwise will be to cast doubts on its ability to deliver a free and fair election in the same manner as it did in 2011.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission continues to undertake ominous measures indicating an intention to undermine Nigeria’s forthcoming elections. The PDP Integrity Vanguard, once again raises an alarm on the demonstrable resolve of Nigeria’s electoral arbiter INEC to unduly disenfranchise Nigerians. Indeed, it is clear that INEC is either crassly incompetent or deliberately undoing the current democratic dispensation.”

In its own position on the issue, ACPN National Chairman, Engr. Olu Okunrinboye, during a press conference held at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, yesterday, emphasized that the use of the card reader machines will improve the electoral process, thereby allowing INEC to conduct free, fair and credible elections.