INEC says card readers will shut down by 10pm on election day

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says card readers will automatically shut down by 10pm on the day of election.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, disclosed this at a press briefing on the progress made by the commission in Abuja. on Wednesday.

The INEC chairman said the card readers were reconfigured to the new election date to make them impossible to be used illegally.

“They are configured to specific polling units and only open for use at 8am on the election day; they will automatically shut down by 10pm in order to forestall any illegal use before the appointed time for elections,” he said.

“Yesterday, I reported 95 percent completion of the configuration. I am pleased to report that we have now achieved 100 percent completion of the configuration. We are good to go on this call.”

Yakubu added that the electoral body had made progress on logistics. He disclosed that the deployment of materials in all states across the country and the federal capital territory (FCT) had been completed.

He also added that 10 states had already begun the movement of the materials to local governments while other states would do so and conclude on Thursday.

The states he listed include Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Ekiti, Jigawa, Katsina, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, and Taraba.

The presidential and national assembly elections have been rescheduled till February 23 while the governorship and state house of assembly elections would hold on March 9.