The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will deploy 6,200 card readers to Anambra State as part of preparations to ensure a successful governorship election in the state.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr Nkwachukwu Orji, made the disclosure on Saturday when he appeared on Sunrise, Channels Television’s weekend breakfast show.
“We have exactly 6,200 card readers provided for this election. It is 1,000 more than what we had in the 2015 elections,” he said.
Orji stressed further that adequate measures have been put in place to ensure some unpleasant incidents recorded during the last governorship election in the state do not occur again.
According to him, “What we have done is to avoid that situation; we have ensured that we tested all the card readers.”
“We brought out the card readers, we put the batteries in them, power them on and make sure they run very well and then test them with a PVC to ensure that they are efficient.
“We have done that for all of the 6,200 card readers we intend to deploy for the election. Bearing any other unforeseen technical challenges, I am so sure that the card readers will be efficient this time,” he added.
On steps taken by INEC to manage emergency cases during the November 18 poll, the REC hinted that Rapid Response Teams would be on ground to address such situation.
He said, “So we will be having rapid response teams in the local governments and rapid response teams in the state and INEC has created a layer of staff known as the Field Technical Officer – these are technicians and experts who have been prepared at the ward level.
“We have 326 wards in Anambra State and we have deployed each of these in each of the wards to be able to respond to emergencies, technical challenges that might arise as the elections progress.”
