Speaking to the journalists in Asaba, the Delta state capital, Macaulay cautioned INEC chief, Professor Attahiru Jega, over using the card readers, adding that there would be a national disaster if his advice was ignored.
He dared Prof Jega to tell Nigerians where the card reader has been successfully used and showed to be reliable.
“My problem with the card readers is that they have never been tested, used and proven successful anywhere. No matter how scientific, no matter how reliable they say it is, it is like an instrument that has never been tested in the theater, and for the first time you want to use it to operate a human heart. It’s not done anywhere in the world. With due respect to Jega, he is a professor and he knows what research is all about,” Macaulay said.
“This card reader has never been used before in the first time. They are bringing it in. We have had a lot of bye-elections, senatorial, federal constituencies and governorship. If I were a governor, I won’t even allow you to use it for my election let alone a national election. As civilized as America is, as scientific as Israel is, they have not used this method and it has not been proven in the world before,” he added.
The secretary added that it was bad-advised to bring such a device to be tested for the first time in a country like Nigeria, underlining that Mr. Jega and his team had made no undoubted argument that the purpose behind the use of the card reader apparatus was unpretentious.
“Until they are able to prove to Nigerians the reliability of the card readers, as far as I am concerned they should put the card readers aside and do the normal elections the way we do it,” said Mr. Macaulay.
He continued, “After the elections, when you have your bye-elections, go and use it to test so that you don’t cause a national panic.”
The secretary also discharged opposition parties, opposing that they have no structures in place to win any election in Delta State and Nigeria. He said the Peoples Democratic Party stayed the only party with the structures in the wards, local governments and states, adding that some opposition parties only are on the pages of newspapers, televisions and radio stations.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s electoral body said it has done everything to protect its card readers from being hacked or jammed on poll day.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had denied an appeal filed by several political parties to stop INEC from using electronic card readers in the upcoming elections.
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