 Hello Nigerians, this is the Voxpop on the Way Show. And for the forthcoming election, we'll be doing a sensitization, teaching Nigerians how to vote correctly because it is no news that many Nigerians don't know how to vote correctly and so that our votes are not void, we need to be able to teach the people how to vote correctly. So come with us as we teach the Nigerian people how to vote correctly for the forthcoming election. Hello, sir. Do you know how to vote correctly? Are you sure? Do you want to show me? All right, go ahead. This is exactly how you vote. You put your thumb on the stamp pad and then you vote right here and then make sure that your thumb is taking a lot of ink so that it can show correctly on whatever candidates you are supporting. Thank you. Like we know and like I said earlier, it is no news that many Nigerians don't know how to vote correctly. Some people, some prints are crossed the line, some don't even get so much ink to print correctly and that is why we came on the street to teach people how to vote correctly. Thank you very much for staying with us. This is The Vox Pop on The Way Show and of course, it's your girl, Dami. Thank you. Till next time. Bye-bye. Thanks for staying with us. The major landmark in the history of electioneering in Nigeria was the introduction of party politics by the Macpherson's Constitution of 1951 which led to the evolution of the political parties that contested elections into the regional assemblies. The parties were the Action Group, age led by Chief Obafemi Awolawa and was in control of the Western Region, the Northern People's Congress, NPC led by Sir Amadou Bailou and was in control of the Northern Region while the National Convention of Nigerians and Cameroons later National Convention of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC which controlled the Eastern Region. Over the years, there have been clear challenges confronting the electoral process and the electorate of Nigeria. And with the general elections just hours away, it is important that we sensitize Nigerians on how to vote correctly when they go out to cast their votes tomorrow. Please let's hear what you have to say. Remember, you can join the conversation. Send us an SMS or WhatsApp to 081-803-84663. You can also tweet to us at Way Show Africa 1 with the hashtag, Way Show. Hmm. You see this thing about voting correctly? It's actually a very big deal. Yes, sir. Because see that video that we've been watching every day this week. Imagine, do you know there are people that actually don't know how to place... Okay, let me shock you. When we went to the street, well, as a matter of fact, the video is from the streets anyway. One guy literally turned printed on the party's logo. I'm like, oh my God. How? How is that even possible? He turned printed and he didn't see that as wrong. Of course, he doesn't know. Do you care? He just felt like, okay, well, this is the party and it's the logo. So I can just turn print anywhere. Meanwhile, there's a space that is for turn printing actually. So many people don't... Simple just think when you just put your index finger on the ink and then just put it on the party that you want to vote. That's it. They don't even take caution to even check that, okay, it's properly... Truthfully, many people don't know how to vote correctly. Yeah, I mean, I've had so many... I've had people ask the questions like, okay, so can we use any of our fingers? We have to be the index finger, can it be the middle finger? Can it be the thumb? And the truth is, I mean, most... If you look at most voter sensitization and enlightenment, it's advised to always use your index finger and that's because it's just a whole lot easier to control your index finger. So truly, because I mean, where you did your power metrics for the PVC, you registered all of your fingers, right? So anyone will work, but your index finger is a lot easier to control. That's why it's... I thought we were going to thumb prints. I mean, I did not know what to do. You can actually use your index finger. I saw a joke earlier and then they said all the ladies that usually have clothes ask nails. I was going to use myself as an example right now because imagine I have to thumb print and then my nails are already stopping me. I mean, so I think that's for tomorrow. Some of us have to remove the nails on our index finger. Why are you hearing that? Yeah, I'm just going to say... Can you hear me now? Yes, I can hear you. I was going to say that this index finger, see my fingers are long. But I think the idea is for us to ensure that whatever we are thumb printing, it doesn't go outside of the borders because if it goes outside of the borders, it's built into another party. You know this thing about proper thumb printing and you won't understand how painful it is until you are actually standing where they are counting the votes and you don't see so many votes being voided or called out in valid or unacceptable just because somebody didn't know how to put the ink where they wanted to vote or even folding the paper correctly because I mean, some of the ink, you know, it's very watery, right? So the trick is always put just a little, just enough for it to just showcase this is where the ink is, you know, and then just complete. You know, so I mean, a lot of times I have gone through how many elections now. I've been voting for a while now and every time that subject of invalid votes comes up, I cringe, I always feel so bad that why? I mean, somebody should have just at least sensitized these people or taught them what to do properly, right? I mean, because there's no point standing in that queue for so long. I mean, there was a particular election that we were in the rain. And yet, after all that suffering, after queuing long lines of queues just to cast your vote, then they now call out maybe a hundred people voted about 30 votes are invalid. How painful is that? I think, you know, for anyone that is going out tomorrow, please just be careful whatever party you're voting in, I don't care, but let that vote be worth your while like, you know, where your thumb print is. What I would say we should do is probably maybe, you know, try to not like this, try to do it just to get the thumb to touch the paper. Yeah, I don't know. Uti, maybe Uti has some tips. Uti, please check. No, you don't have any tips. Thank you very much. Yeah, but then well said, it's actually very important. Yeah. Imagine that you left your house at 6 a.m. You got there, it took about two, three hours to get accredited, you know, then you excited, excitement and all of that. You pick your ballot paper and then you want to then put your fingerprints and then you now make that mistake. So what's the end of the day? Please. Let's, let's, we're actually going to show you live in the studio. You know, you know, that's 6 a.m. I have left my house now because I am currently lodging where I'm supposed to be voting because I chose not to change my or transfer my polling Yes, location, right? So, because for me, it's also time to spend with family. So, I mean, my sister's house and, you know, I'm going to be voting tomorrow. So sometimes it's not even leaving 6 a.m. So people have actually traveled. I mean, I was on the road today heading to the mainland. It was like ridiculously without any traffic. You know, a lot of stores have shut down. A lot of business is closed early. A lot of business is not even open today because a lot of people have taken out time to say, okay, they're traveling to go vote. Some have gone out of states. You know, some have gone out of probably location or something. So you just imagine how after you put in all that effort, what then happens? You then go to the polling unit and you're not able to, you know, get that vote delivered. I don't think it's wisdom. So if you have taken the sacrifice, because I mean, I was, I overheard, but I think I lost a bit. I was watching the news this morning and it's quite impressive what the numbers, the data, Madam Data, will tell me, the data have said about this particular election. The number of people, you know, that have gone out to go get registered, to get their PBCs. So we have a huge number of first-time voters, right? So it's not enough to shout, ah, I'm going to the polls, I'm going to whatever, I'm going to go and print, I'm going to vote my candidate. It's not enough. You must know how to do it well because if you end up putting all the sacrifices just to get that thing done and at the end of the day, you then come out to the vote when it's time to count those votes and the votes are considered invalid. That happens to all the effort that you have made. So because there are loads of first-time voters in this particular election, it's very important that people pay attention. If you are watching at home and you have first-time voters around you, now will be the time to start explaining how it is done because again, you will not be allowed to have those conversations whilst at the polling unit because it's considered, you know, what's it called, a breach of the rules of voting, right? I mean, you guys have drawn from that well enough yesterday. You've drawn from all the do's and the don'ts when it comes to mozikot whilst you are at the polling unit, yeah. Yes, thank you so much. Well said. You know, I was going to ask you a question in terms of silly anyway. If anybody makes a mistake on your ballot, but it's going to give them another ballot. Oh, no. I'm just asking that because I am sure that some people, haven't you seen in the exam halls why haven't you forgotten when you use HPP to shade? To shade. To shade. Do you think I've gone over a shade? Is that just like in the exam? Just like every polling material, every voting material has been halved. Yeah, exactly. Unfortunately, you do not have an opportunity to vote twice. You only have one chance, one paper. Jonas and I've not seen it and maybe correct me if I'm wrong anybody. I've not seen anywhere in his job my voting where somebody says, oh, sorry, excuse me ma. I made a mistake. Can you give me another paper to vote? It's not done. You get one chance to go in to put your vote in and so that's why you must get it right. I deliberately ask that question because I know there are some people that are wondering if I make a mistake, I cannot even go back. Here's the answer. I was going to use the example of examination. For instance, you know that if you fail, you are very failed. There's no makeup. So you need to make conscious effort not to fail. And that's why we want to shade. We have to shade carefully. Like, I'm going to shade you in the box so that I will not go and shade another answer that is wrong. Do you understand? So this particular election is like, and you guys really hanging. Hanging and really depending on the result of this election. So the best that we can do for this country right now is to actually vote correctly and intentionally. Anyway, so we had promised that we're actually going to show you guys live in the studio how to properly place your fingerprints while you want to vote, right? Remember, you're going to have the, you're going to have an ink pad or stamp pad as the case, maybe. But then we'll do that when we come back from this break. If you're just tuning, we're discussing voter sensitization how to vote correctly. Please, let's hear what you have to say. Remember, you can join the conversation send us an SMS or WhatsApp to 081-80384663. You can also Twitter us at Weshawafrika1 with the hashtag Weshaw. So before we went on the break, I had promised that we're going to show you those of us in the studio. Myself and Dami actually. We're going to do a live demo of how to actually thump it and how to fold your ballot paper. That is also very important. And the reason we're saying this is if you fold your ballot paper incorrectly, the ink can stain and stain another party's thumbprint area. And at that point, your vote is going to be rendered invalid. Are you ready? Yes, I am. Let's do this. Okay. I'm not going to show you what party it is that I'm voting for. Okay. Okay. Okay, so now here's the problem because my nails can actually... You see? That's part of what we're saying. Let's not take our ghost clothes. Oh my God. My nails literally cannot go inside this. So I don't know. There we go. Ink. Okay. Got it. All right. So, yeah. Good. Make sure it doesn't. Yes. Of course. So, yep. So, you know, you have the slots already allotted for each party that you're voting for and then they usually look like this. So once you have done this, please make sure not to fold this way. Okay, I think I'm just going to use my as an example. Because if you fold this way, now watch what's going to happen. By the time you bring it up, look at that. Your vote is already considered invalid because you already have two. So nobody will start calling you to say which one is the correct one or which one did you vote for. So please make sure that you do not fold this way. That means going to show us the correct way to fold our ballot papers. All right. So this is actually the call. You fold your ballot papers. This is vertically now. Yes. So, fold it vertically so that even when the ink stains anywhere, it's going to stain the party logo. Do you get it? It's going to stain the party logo as against another party's ballot point or a thumbprinting point. So you fold it vertically, not horizontally, vertically this way so that it can stain the party's logo and not another party's point. So yeah, that's basically the trick. So basically you're folding like you're closing a book. Yes. That's the trick. So even if you don't remember any other thing, just remember that once you place your fingerprint, you fold it like you're folding a book. You're not folding over, right? You're folding it to the side. Maybe I think that's better. It's easier to remember. So fold to the side. Don't fold it over. I hope that we actually understand that. Uwant, Utiya, are you practicing? Well, what do you do? Well, I was just going to ask that, Shunelo and Dami, can you help me out? So those people that don't know where the polling units are, is there anywhere we can check? Because now I just got to the area where I'm supposed to be voting. I'm trying to just scan through where would I be going to tomorrow? Is there any information about, even your polling unit knowing your polling unit? Yeah, sure. There are actually two ways, right? There are two ways. Utiya, go ahead. Okay, Utiya, go on. I can't go on to the INEC. In fact, I did that just before. As we got on air, I wanted to test it again to see if the site was still up and running. And I did that this evening. So on the INEC website, the CVR.INECNigeria.org slash VVS. And there you can enter your state of registration, local government, your surname, your first name, and your date of birth. And then click check status. And it will bring out your details. So it will say voter information found. And it will bring out your voter identification number. Well, the first set of digits are blurred. But it also gives you your registration area. So your polling unit and your polling unit code. Interestingly enough, it also tells you that you can get directions to your polling units. And I tried that as well. And they tried to bring up the map information. So yes, you can get that information online. I'm actually leaving with us to that because I did that today. I went to my polling units this morning, actually. So I was confused because I remember that when I collected my TVs, I collected it somewhere around Onirio. So in my head, I'm like, OK, so that means that my polling units would be in Onirio, right? And she's like, you better check this thing. So I just logged on. I just typed polling units. And then I saw a polling unit located on the INEC website. That's what it says. That's even long story safe. Guess what? The code on your... Funny enough, the code on your... Just right on top of your photograph on your PVC. You ask the code that you can use because... So the first one, Lagos is 24. So you just go Lagos. You type in whatever local government it is. So just that code anyway. And then your polling unit, your registration center number as well. And voila. I did it for three people today. And they found out... But you should understand that Uti is a systems person. Yeah. To be given in detail, she's not the... She doesn't like the sharp, sharp way. Uti... Uti should be... If the government understands the strength that Uti possesses on her income, they're not even with time. Honestly, they mean her. Thank you. Well done. Well done, Uti. Thank you. I agree with you. I want 100... I was trying somewhere. And I told Uti, before I said, Uti had sent me location, sent me... She's that one person that when you feel like there's something you need to do, just call Uti to be done. I'm serious. But thank you for that information because I think many people are not aware of this. But I'm just curious though about how this would impact people that do not have access to data... Yeah. Go ahead. Uti. Yeah. What did you say? Yeah. I said, I was just curious about how people, you know, that are not... They don't have access. I guess like, Chinelo, you have to find somebody that can help you check. It's quite easy to do so. So anybody that can actually get online can help you check. I think that if you're also in that locality to also be able to ask, because there's one... What's it called? Within your... Every polling booth is supposed to be within your walking distance. So the idea is that people that live around you should also have the same polling unit. So you can also confirm from like your neighbors or people in that location where you are, because of course it's gridded around certain addresses. So if you're in a particular location, then people around you should also know what your polling booth is. But because, I mean, every polling booth should be literally within a walking distance of where you are. That's how the system is set up. But really to be safe, always better. So for somebody like me, I am almost smacking the middle of two polling units. So there's one behind my estate and one behind my estate. So don't assume. I always assumed that would be in one. And then when I eventually registered, I ended up being at a different one. So better to be safe and check before you go. I would also like to know just actually to get to our polling unit early enough. I think we had the same thoughts. We must also say that. Please get to your polling unit early and this is why, you need to check your, I saw the list of names today and honestly that's one thing that's going to waste people's time tomorrow. Trying to find your name on that list, it's going to take a while. So it's better that you get there early enough so that you can do that in time and then vote in time. So even if you want to stay back, you are done with that whole process and then you can just relax and wait for them to count the votes. If not, you finish and then you go on. We just pray that the INEC officials will actually get there on time. No, if they don't get on time, there's a number to report them. We spoke about that I think two days ago. There's a number to report. Any electoral official that is not there on time, there's actually a number to call or to send an SMS to report them. Speaking about SMS, please don't forget to join the conversation. Send us an SMS or WhatsApp to 081-803-84663. You could also tweet us at Weshaw Africa One with the hashtag Weshaw. So as I was saying, you can actually send reports. Any electoral official? Yes. But I need people to help me out here because I've been watching you guys sensitizing people, talking about all the ways and the revelations, the dues and the bones. The question I'd like to ask really who implements this thing? Because it is a nice thing that we have all of these rules and revelations that is really now to 50 million that are fined, 50,000 fined, go to jail and all of that, right? I mean, we know these things because again, they will tell you it's Nigerian factor. So you are just saying it's so with so much confidence that called the INEC number and called the number and report the official for coming in late. Come on. Are you Nigerian? You should know that. Some of these things, you know. They're not particularly accountable. So, you see, the moment we stop making that those excuses for them, that's when good things will have to happen. I don't think it's about excuses and I just think it's about our reality. Why should bad things be our reality? Well, that's how we have seen it. No, it shouldn't be that way. I don't agree. It shouldn't be that way. But ultimately change actually, well, we are the ones that can affect the change at the end of the day. That's why you should report. Okay. If anything, what you're trying to say there is that you have a responsibility to report it. Even if you think that nothing is going to be done and nothing will come of it, at least play your part. The idea here is that everybody should be playing their part and making sure that things are done. I found it very interesting today. I spent some time just perusing the INEC website to try and even see how much information is out there because here we are trying to sensitize voters, right? And we'd expect that INEC has put out as much information as possible. And I found it interesting that I ran into a document that said, it's a 31-page document. That's to tell you how much thought has gone into it. It's a code of conduct and rules of engagement for security personnel on electoral duty. I mean, the document is quite robust and it covers almost everything from how they should carry their weapons, handle their weapons, rules for escorting the materials and the INEC officials. And I think for me, knowledge is power. So as much information as people can get so that people know what to expect at the polling unit. Again, information is key to not just managing behavior but actually keeping people safe because people then know what to look out for when things are not right or what seems out of place or seems off. So just encouraging people to try and get as much information as possible and to stay in a situation and keep your head on a swivel. If anything can happen, I think one of the things I've seen is some of the very useful guides that I've seen. This is not the time to wear your high heels. This is not the time to wear your latest designers and jewelry. Keep it all at home. Stay comfortable, stay loose, keep it casual. If you need to pick up your feet, you need to be able to move. Yeah, I mean, I was watching Chinelo and Dixon, I think. When they were discussing the security fight I mean, you should be ready. When you're wearing your attire, you should also consider that there's a flight mode in your head in case of any eventualities or you need to just leave that scene in a hurry. I mean, I don't think anybody would not be smart enough to wear a sneaker or maybe a sandal or something flat, you know, because again, outside of even the stress of, I mean, outside of the flight mode, how about the long hours of standing, you know. So even where I am, I don't know, where luxury people hear. You see, that's why I like to go to the air. They give us places to relax. Sometimes they give us some small chops and all of that, even though I don't eat it. It's available there. There are some very, very, really safe polling areas. And that's why I particularly like where I normally cast my votes. But again, they are volatile areas where you need to be at alert, you know, like what he might be said about, you know, what you're putting on your clothes. I would not wear all this jewellery when I'm going to certain areas. So it's only wisdom, you know, for you to just tone down on whatever it is that you're doing and be ready for, you know, a scene in the hurry. You should be prepared and ready. I think the other thing that I'd like to point out also, if it was the first thing I went to look for in the document, which spoke to how the security officials should be dressed. Because, you know, sometimes officials, you say somebody is in any kind of attire claiming to be a security personnel. So they're all supposed to be in their uniforms. So if you are getting a costume, they're supposed to be in their uniforms. They're supposed to carry any weapons around the polling booths. So just information to empower ourselves and knowing what to expect and what to look out for. Yeah, very true. I mean, this cannot be even over-emphasized. Comfortable clothing, because like what I said, you're going to queue for a long time. It's inevitable. But on a lighter mode, you may have seen the news, I remember you were saying, ah, you don't know where you can meet and you can dress nice. You can dress nice without being comfortable clothing. On a lighter mode, like what I said. But please, it's very important that we smell nice. You can actually look really nice and at the same time smart. I mean, I agree with you. That's your goal. I mean, I think if a husband should find a wife at the polling unit, that would be a long-lasting relationship. You mean that both of them should not. I know that if you come there to vote for two different parties, then it's a good one. It's a good one. For you, most importantly, please, we need to smell nice. And brush your teeth. Please, not because it left your house around 6am, so when you're speaking to someone else and you're like, oh, no. Please, let our breath be nice. Let's smell really good. Let's look good. I mean, as long as we're trying to be comfortable, we look really good. Thank you. You just eat all the right parts. You know this thing about smelling good, right? I watched the kids this morning, one of these comedians, he brought out toothbrush and brought out deodorant. And he said the toothbrush is only $300. The deodorant is only $1,002 or something. They are pleased. They take a bagel of them because again, you're standing in queue. Somebody is in front of you like, no, no, no, please. Personal hygiene is very important to you. Very important. So you smell nice. Imagine that someone is standing in front of you and their hair is smelling. Oh, no. It's like so much suffering and at the same time we are in the sun and someone's breath is choking you. Oh, my God. I could literally pass out. Let's see. I think you have a comment. Okay. So my comment says their team, I just tuned into your channel. My polling unit is at Ikeja Anifowo Shea to be precise. But I stay at Salimashor area of Lagos. I would like to know if it is possible that I vote at my locality. A concerned Nigerian and need my vote to count. So unfortunately you would have had to read what's the word now. Move your polling unit. So there's a process for doing that which you would have had to do before this time. So it's not possible to just go to any polling unit to vote. As we said the materials have all been dispatched in preparation for the expected voters at each polling unit. So the voter hasn't the viewer hasn't put their name but unfortunately you have to get to your polling unit to be able to vote. So there's no time to get this evening but you have to vote. And I think the coffee just to add to what you said, the coffee I think is 12 midnight tonight. So after 12 midnight tonight nobody's allowed to move until after the elections tomorrow, right? So if the person is really, really eager to cast his or her vote you need to go. That's why I left my location to come get to vote, right? You need to live. I didn't want to but you should have done that transfer months ago. Because a lot of people have also transferred. I mean some people were living in Abuja they are now in Potakot. They transferred their details to Potakot where they stay. So I mean since you didn't do that for your vote to count in this particular election you need to head to Surilere. Well said. I was also going to mention that you know, this election is not a war between ourselves. Please. We're not fighting a war. It's not a religious war. It's not a tribal war. It's just us trying to exercise our civic responsibility in order to make our country a better place for each and every one of us. So please, as you're going to your polling units tomorrow, go in peace. Go with peace. Go for peace. Honestly. Don't go there. Be a man or a woman of work. Be a man and a woman of peace. Because I would like to a lot of people are just too scared about this first coming election because it just feels like anything can happen. And truthfully anything can happen but we just really hope for the best that nothing really happens. People don't allow themselves to be used as instruments to disrupt the elections because I mean it's a thing and it has happened time after time. The same thing doesn't repeat itself again tomorrow but other than that, I just hope and pray that we are all of love and joy and peace. I'm not a violin. And when we come back here on Monday we'll have Okay, we had a meeting in the office today so a few shots and at the end of the meeting the lady just says if we still have a country by Monday and I'm like Oh my God! Please. We will definitely have a country. We will definitely have a country. I just want to add to that so I went to the salon talking about smelling hair I had to take out my hair to wash my hair but the time I was done you know what my stylist told me they were so funny they said please wash auntie's hair very well wash it very well so that in case for the next two weeks she cannot come to the salon at least the hair will be clean because they know that I like my hair very clean I said but the thing is I feel like before today I would have been part of the school of thoughts that is going to go violent but after today there was some level of calmness that I just noticed while driving on the roads today I feel like it's going to be a very peaceful election right? It's going to be a peaceful election and like I mean I would rightly say this is not the time to say anything just say quietly cast your vote and leave yeah I think I'll just add to that I saw a meme earlier today about the election said if you do anyhow you see anyhow so let's try to avoid seeing anyhow and most importantly staying safe for those that are able to go out and have their PBCs and do their civic duties vote wisely and yeah stay safe okay thank you so much ladies before we go do ensure you follow us on Instagram at Weshaw Africa you can interact with us drop a comment and most importantly follow all our social media engagement and remember to like, share, comment and invite your friends and family to watch us and follow us if you missed today's quotes here it is again our political leaders will know our priorities only if we tell them again and if those priorities begin to show up in the polls this is by Peggy Nune see you on Monday at 8pm as we bring another great conversation see you on screen bye