The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the process of reconfiguration of smart card readers for the general elections is almost complete.

INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a briefing on the measures taken so far to ensure the success of the scheduled polls.

“You’ll recall that in my last address to stakeholders, I mentioned that we intended to deploy the smartcard readers and we identified very clear timelines for the delivery of the smartcard readers,” he said.

The INEC boss added, “I want to report that as at last night (Monday), we have achieved 95 per cent configuration of the 180,000 smartcard readers, and this process is going to be completed early morning on Wednesday, clear one day ahead of schedule.”

Professor Yabuku again offered his regrets over the postponement of the elections, saying the commission was working hard to ensure that the rescheduled elections hold and were free and fair.

According to him, INEC takes full responsibility and acknowledges the inconveniences and cost of the shift in dates.

The INEC chairman thanked Nigerians and all stakeholders in the polls for their understanding, despite the difficulties occasioned by the change.

He recalled that he had announced an adjusted schedule of activities that would lead to the elections scheduled to commence on Saturday.

Professor Yabuku identified eight activities the commission has highlighted as part of measures to actualise the new timetable.

They cover three broad areas which include deployment of materials, movement of personnel, and configuration of card readers while timelines were assigned to each of them.

The INEC boss said, “By 4:00pm yesterday (Monday), all issues relating to the delivery of materials were identified and virtually addressed.

“Ballot papers, result sheets, and a host of non-sensitive materials are now in location across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.”

“Our state offices commenced the process of inviting stakeholders to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to examine the retrieved materials deployed last week and witness the batching of materials according to local government areas. This is ongoing at the moment and is expected to be completed today,” he added.

•Sourced from a Channels TV report

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