Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the three main candidates for today’s governorship election in Ondo State have been left bitter by the malfunctioning of card readers in parts of the state during the exercise.

Mimiko was one of the victims. There was mild drama in Ondo town as the card reader deployed for the election rejected the governor’s thumbprint when he wanted to vote at his Ward 7, Unit 20 Polling Unit in Ondo West Local Government Area.

Mimiko had to fill the incident form before he was finally allowed to cast his vote at about 12 noon.

Speaking shortly after casting his vote, the governor said he would resist any attempt to manipulate the election in favour of any political party.

“Ondo people will not allow any form of rigging or manipulation through the card reader or any other form,” he said.

The three major contestants, namely Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Olusola Oke of Alliance for Democracy (AD) also complained about the malfunctioning card readers.

Akeredolu, in particular, lamented the malfunctioning of some smart card readers deployed for the exercise. The former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, who spoke at his Owo residence after casting his vote, remarked that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ought to have test run the devices before election day.

No fewer than 1,280,580 voters with Permanent Voter Cards were expected to vote in the election out of the 28 contestants.

Although 1,659,186 voters were registered for the election, only 378,606 collected their PVCs.

•Photo shows card reader.

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