Fayemi, Aregbesola canvass use of card reader machine for 2014 Election
Salimot Raji
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi and his Osun State counterpart, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, have called on the Inde pendent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rescind its decision not to use Voter Card Reader (VCR) machines during the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun States governorship elections.
The governors who faulted INEC’s decision to defer the use of card reader machines till the 2015 general elections spoke in Lagos at the weekend at a fund raising dinner hosted by “Friends of JKF. They spoke even as former Lagos State Governor and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu dared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to attempt rigging elections in the two states and see the wrath of the people.
Fayemi, while throwing his weight behind the use of VCR machine in Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections slated for June 21 and August 9, respectively, said that Ekiti people would leave no stone unturned to ensure that their votes count, counted and announced in Ekiti State and not elsewhere.
The governor added that the electoral body would not only be encouraged, but be pressured to use the VCR machine to affirm its commitment to free, fair and credible polls in the two states.
Fayemi said: “We will go to any length not only to ensure that the votes of the people count, but that the votes must be counted at the spot where they have chosen to elect the leader for themselves and we will do everything to ensure that INEC is forced, not just encouraged to use the card reader for these elections in Ekiti and Osun.”.
The APC governorship candidate stressed that the difference made by his government in the lives of Ekiti people since 2010 is clear and is an evidence of his commitment to lifting up the weak and vulnerable section of the society.
Governor Fayemi who said that the seven years of the PDP rule in the state was full of criminality and brigandage stated that the collapse of the PDP candidate, Mr Ayo Fayose at Ifaki Ekiti was an act of God revealing the true colours of the enemies of the people.
Governor Aregbesola alleged that the PDP is already collecting the identification numbers on voters cards with the aim of cloning the original cards, adding that the only way the cloned cards can be detected as fake is not physical examination but through the use of electronic voting system.
The Osun governor also alleged that there are plans to manipulate both the Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial polls to favour the opposition, saying that INEC should endeavour to test run the use of Voters Card Reader machines in the two states ahead of the 2015 general elections.
He added that INEC only needs to provide 3,500 VCR machines for the use in the two states as a sign of its commitment to conducting credible polls.
Tinubu told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to perish its alleged plan to rig the forthcoming elections in Ekiti and Osun states, saying, any attempt to subvert the people’s will would be resisted.
The APC leader alleges that the PDP could only win the states by manipulating the election, because the party has not presented an alternative manifesto to challenge the ruling APC government in the two states. The former governor who dared the PDP-led FG to arrest him for his vow to resist rigging charged the people of Ekiti State to defend their votes and prevent any attempt not to make their votes count.
