Biometric Fingerprint Readers Fail in Nigeria's Presidential Election

Strategic Insights -

Nigeria's presidential election was marred by technical difficulties with the newly-introduced mobile fingerprint identification readers, forcing some voters to resort to manual verification. President Goodluck Jonathan and several governors from his ruling party were among those affected by the malfunctioning machines. The incident has been described as a "huge national embarrassment" by Jonathan's party, while the electoral commission's chairman has acknowledged the challenges but maintained that the overall voter turnout was "quite large".

Key Takeaways:

  • Over 300 polling stations reopened on Sunday to accommodate voters who were unable to cast their ballots due to failed biometric card readers.
  • President Goodluck Jonathan and at least three governors from his ruling party were unable to electronically validate their identities using the machines, forcing INEC officials to resort to manual verification.
  • Jonathan's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called the incident a "huge national embarrassment" and a "vindication" of their opposition against the biometric recognition technology.
  • Jonathan's presidential campaign spokesman Femi Fani-Kayode stated that there should have been a test-run for a smaller election before deploying the technology for the presidential election.
  • Jonathan's main opponent, Muhammadu Buhari, successfully registered his vote using the smart card readers.
  • INEC chairman Attahiru Jega acknowledged the challenges but maintained that the overall voter turnout was "quite large".

Statistics:

  • Approximately 300 polling stations reopened on Sunday to accommodate voters who were unable to cast their ballot due to failed biometric card readers.
  • 150,000 polling stations were initially setup for the election.
  • Voter turnout was described as "quite large".
  • 48 hours were given for the announcement of the overall election results.

Sources:

  • BBC News
  • NTA state television interview with INEC chairman Attahiru Jega
  • 2015 Global Data Point.
  • Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info)