Kayode Idowu, the INEC spokesman, told Channels TV on Monday, April 6, that the issues with the card readers had been duly addressed.
“The challenges that accounted for what we saw on March 28 included the fact that a particular network provider’s SIM card ought to have been activated with a mobile phone before they are inserted. The commission has given an instruction that every card of that network must be activated first in a phone before they are inserted into the card reader.
“Another issue that was noticed is that the protective film that should have been removed was left in the card reader, making it impossible for the card reader to work.”
Idowu expressed optimism that there would be no problems with the use of the card readers on April 11.
The INEC official noted that the card readers worked properly in 99% of polling units across the country. He added that “more technical staff will be deployed from the headquarters to address any challenges on the field”.
“We are optimistic that we will not have the kind of challenges that we had on March 28 on April 11,” he said.
Because of the technical problems encountered on March 28, INEC was forced to extend the voting till Sunday, March 29, in 300 polling stations.