Wike faults Buhari’s refusal to sign Electoral Act

The Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike says the crisis that marred the general elections would have been avoided if President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the amended Electoral Act.

Wike said the amended Electoral Act would legitimise the card reader system and strengthen the process of results collation.

The governor spoke during a courtesy visit by a political team from the British High Commission to Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

He said, “If the President had assented to the amended Electoral Act, we wouldn’t have had the kind of problem we had.

“That means that there must be card readers in the electoral process; it makes it difficult for the security agencies who want to commit electoral fraud to succeed.”

Wike added, “With card readers, results that don’t tally with the accredited figures in the device will not be accepted. Since card reader is not in the law, it creates loopholes for them to manipulate.

“They created room for some security officials who tried to force Returning Officers to sign result sheets. Remember in Rivers State, the Army took over INEC headquarters.

“The essence of that was to see that the Returning Officers were hijacked for fraudulent purposes. But if the card reader system had been legitimised in the Electoral Act, it would not have been possible.”