Governor Theodore Orji has complained about the reported failure of card readers across the state.

Orji who spoke to newsmen after being accredited at his Urban Ward 1 at Ugba Primary School in Umuahia at about 11 am, expressed worry over complaints from many Abians that the card readers were either malfunctioning or rather slow.

While the card readers were working in all the polling units in Urban Ward 1, the governor said the situation may not be the same across the state.

“The card readers are working here but my concern now is the time,” he said as it took about four to five minutes to accredit a voter.

“The card readers are slow in the process of accreditation. Will you still allow people to vote beyond the stipulated time for voting? That is the problem. I am worried that people should not be disenfranchised. Any voter should be allowed to cast his or her vote once you are registered. If one person is disenfranchised, it is unfair to this system, it is unfair to democracy,” Orji added

He said he has laid complaints of card reader failures to INEC and expressed hope that the commission would fix the problems for the polls to proceed smoothly.

“I believe there must be a remedy to all these problems. INEC told us they were prepared and I believe they are prepared because when there was test run of the card readers, these problems surfaced. There were places the card readers worked, there were places they did not work. I am sure that between that time and now, they must have found a means of sorting out that problem. So, if this problem has resurfaced, they should be in a position to sort it out,” the governor said.

He expressed happiness with the orderliness and discipline in his polling unit, saying: “I am satisfied. There is orderliness, there is discipline. There is no rowdiness. People are being accredited and things are going on well here. I wish that what I am seeing here today is what will happen in all the polling units in the state.”

•Photo Governor TA Orji.

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