INEC reacts to online adverts on availability of blank PVC cards for sale
It turns out that recently an advert for the purchase of blank Voters card had circulated the internet with Nigerians decrying it’s implications on a free and fair election come 2019.
In reaction, INEC Nigeria took to its official twitter page to debunk the source of the advert as emanating from them and reiterated their commitment to a free and fair election.
Find excerpt of their tweets below.
I wish to assure you that our electoral processes have gone beyond the capacity of our own officials to manipulate. The procedures are robust. The claim that the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are cloned and Smart Card Readers pre-loaded is simply ludicrous.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) July 5, 2018
The Card Readers are only configured to specific polling units 72 hours or less before an election, set to operate only on election day from 8am and is manually shut down for accreditation after the last person on the queue has voted or automatically by 8pm.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) July 5, 2018
We are aware that as we approach the 2019 elections, there will be a lot of interest in our activities for virtuous& malicious reasons. Few days ago, Nigerians were legitimately outraged by the image of a blank PVC advertised by an offshore Company for purchase in the open market
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) July 5, 2018
Within a few hours, we contacted the online platform responsible for the advert which promptly removed it. What Nigerians may not know is that it was not a single advertiser. A second company was forced to remove a similar advert and only yesterday a third one was withdrawn.
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) July 5, 2018
We have extracted a commitment from https://t.co/kVKpuWv1KZ to stop this unwholesome practice forthwith & will continue to work with the security agencies to track down those responsible for the advert as well as any prospective buyers of which there are none so far
Prof. MahmoodAdvertisement— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) July 5, 2018
We suspect that many dubious enterprises will keep trying openly and in the dark web. We have anticipated these challenges and we are far ahead of the mischief makers. Our security source codes are not only robust but continuously enhanced.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) July 5, 2018
We wish to reassure Nigerians that our sensitive and non-sensitive materials, processes and procedures are secure.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) July 5, 2018
