The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mammud Yakubu, on Wednesday disclosed that the Commission had replaced the card Readers burnt in the inferno that occurred at the Ondo State headquarters of the commission ahead of the October 10, governorship election in the state.
Yakubu who stated this in Akure while speaking with newsmen during a three-day working visit to the state said the visit is to have on the spot assessment of the level of preparedness for the commission for the election.
He said the commission was ready for the conduct of credible and acceptable poll as witnessed in Edo State last Saturday.
He said the commission had made provision for the card readers from other state and the card reader have been configured ahead of the next month governorship election in the state.
He said “we have already recovered some smart card readers. We, unfortunately, lost over 5000 smart card readers to the fire incident. We have however recovered by getting a requisite number of smart card readers from neighbouring Oyo state.
“They have already been delivered to Ondo State and that have been charged and configured and ready for the election on October 10 governorship election in the state.”
Yakubu explained that he was in the state to meet with the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ambassador Rufus Akeju and Head of Departments ahead of the October 10, Governorship Election in Ondo State.
He also said the commission would organise an interaction session with all the stakeholders in the election including traditional rulers in the state to ensure the success of the election.
It will be recalled that a section of of the state INEC office was affected by a fire outbreak, burning about 5,141 smart card readers meant for the governorship election during the inferno.
The cause of the fire incident was attributed to electrical surge after an investigation by the state police command.