Jonathan calls for improvement on card readers, urges Bayelsans to remain peaceful

Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, challenged the IndependentNational Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve on the functionalityof card readers to ensure that there were no further hitches on voteraccreditation ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Jonathan who cast his vote at 1.40 pm, in his hometown Otuoke, also urged the people of Bayelsa to be peaceful, saying:
“In everyelection, there must be a winner and there must be a loser. While the winner celebrates, the loser laments. But the winner must carry the loser along.”
However, addressing reporters earlier after his accreditation for yesterday’s governorship elections, the former President expressed hisdispleasure over the fact that the card readers continued to fail evenin isolated elections.
He noted that he came to the polling booth withhis wife, mother and two other prominent figures but only two of themwere accredited through the electronic method.
The President said: “The issue of card reader is of concern again evenin this Bayelsa governorship elections. For instance, we are five thatcame out to be accredited but only my wife and I were accredited. Theother people are prominent people with authentic permanent voter’scard, yet the card could not identify their fingerprints.”
“I am quite worried about the PVCs. From my experience today INECmust review this issue of PVCs and card readers very well before we gointo 2019 elections. I will advice that before we go into the 2019elections the whole concept of card reader and its technology must beproperly reviewed.
“This is a learning process. I believe before the next elections,things will improve. The idea of the card reader is okay, but it mustbe acceptable. The card reader is creating more problems than itsolves.
”He said further: “Credible elections are the hallmark of democracy.When elections are not credible and peaceful we cannot elect leaderswho are accountable to the people. Votes of the citizens must count.For this to happen I am advising the people of Bayelsa state to becalm as they exercise their civic rights”.
The former President who had wanted to be one of the very first to beaccredited, had approached polling unit 039, Ward 13 in Ogbia localgovernment area, located close to his Otuoke residence at about 8:20a.m, but was quickly urged by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissionerin the state, Baritor Kpagih, to return home on account ofmalfunctioning card reader.
He returned to the polling unit by 10am when the card readereventually accepted data of the former president and his wife butfailed to read his the biometrics of his mother and two other associates.