Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has described the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections as very impressive even though he lamented that the card reader rejected his fingerprint.
Speaking to Journalists shortly after casting his ballot at the Gwaranga Primary School polling centre in Bogoro LGA, Yakubu Dogara said, “I think it’s fairly ok, judging by what I have seen here. It’s a bit smooth, But in a sense, you know I had a problem with the Card Reader, it couldn’t automatically authenticate me. So I had to thumbprint on the Voters Register, so to say for me to vote”
He added that “So, that is one of the flaws I have noted, even though the process of authentication is repeated twice, But somehow, somehow, the Card Reader couldn’t accept my FingerPrint. So, I had to thumbprint the Voters Register for me to vote. That is one of the things I have noticed”.
The Speaker who cast his ballot at about 9.45am said, “But this is just one Polling Unit and perhaps hundreds of thousands across Nigeria. So, if what is transpiring here is what is happening across Nigeria, I can say that this meets the standard of a democratic election. But the problem that is the problem that will happen in some nooks and crannies of the federation.
Yakubu Dogara added that “We know that the eye of the media will be here because of the Speaker, so as you can see, it is fairly organised, better packaged. We hope that this is the situation across all the Polling Units in this country”.
He concluded that “I think it is very very impressive, it’s early in the morning and I am sure before noon, you will see that the place will be fuller. That is because citizens are educated, the choices before them are very clear”.