 Let's see what the breakfast and plus TV Africa let's head straight to our first conversation we look at the issue of PVC collection and a voter education and her awareness now no fewer than 6.7 million Nigerians are yet to collect their permanent voters card less than eight weeks to the general elections data obtained from the state offices of the independent national election national electoral commission INEC on has revealed that the 6.7 million PVCs were locked up in INEC safe across 17 states and the federal capital territory INEC had announced that the collection window for PVCs will commence December the 12th 2022 and end on January 2022 that's 23rd the INEC National Commissioner and voter information and voter education Festus Okoye disclosed in a statement that with effect from January the 6th to the 15th 2023 the collection of PVCs would be devolved to a world level after which collection would be moved to local government areas the past elections have been merit by voters apathy now and if you take a look at the 2019 general elections and accept that about 82.3 million registered voters however only 28.6 million voted in the polls which resulted in the re-elections of President Muhammad Buhari who polled 15 million to defeat his close rival at the club who scored 12.11.2 million votes now during the Lagos state governorship elections less than 2 million voted in the poll which was won by Baba Gideh Son Wulu of the APC he garnered 739,445 votes to defeat Jimmy Agbaji of the PDP who got 206,141 votes data from Lagos state INEC office revealed that as of December 2029 a total of 1,693,963 PVCs remand on collected this was disclosed in a document tagged INEC Lagos PVCs report. We have this morning joining us the HOD voter education and publicity department at Denicke Taddeche. Thank you so much for being part of the show. Good morning ma'am. Good morning. Alright I'd like to find out from you what is responsible for the numbers that we have the statistics persons who have not collected their PVCs. Well thank you very much. Let me start by telling us that the PVCs that we have in our course today are the we have two categories of PVCs the old ones those ones that registered between 2011 via the 2019 general election we had and that one the PVCs were up to 6,570,291 and we should be aware that some of those people that are engaged in the registration might have died and mostly most of them were core members that engaged in this registration and definitely they had gone to their various different locations but the second part where these people that registered during the continuous voter registration exercise that one we embarked upon June 28th 2021 so July 2030. Alright Denicke can you hear me? Yes. Alright go ahead. Yeah as we speak now so the new PVCs that we got you know the registered voters of negotiations now are over 7 million so now the PVCs that we got from the National Air Quarters of the Commission in respect of the CVR we got 7 million and no 940,200 now when we now add the two different categories of the PVCs now in legacy we got 7,000 7 million 510,491 the accumulation of both old and new now as of 1st January 2023 we've been able to give out 5,879,717 so we are left with 1,630,774 and we can see that this number is decreasing on daily basis because people are really creeping out to collect the cuts like we earlier said we are going to devolve the cuts to the RA levels now in legacy we have 245 RA level that is those are the what we call them what level and this we are going to commence tomorrow that will be the 6th January 2023 and we want to believe that the number will be drastically because you know our people will come out to collect the cuts so this is what we are working towards. So I'd like to find out is it that the people are not coming out to collect their PVCs what exactly is the reason why we have this because if you look at the electoral process I mean the dynamics have actually changed for 2023 we seem to be developing so the political awareness the will to be part of the electoral process for 2023 has increased and then we have you know this number of persons who have not collected their PVCs you know across different states 17 to precise according to the reports so what exactly is the case here is it a case that the people are not coming out to collect what are we dealing with? I will not say people are not coming out because on daily basis like on the 4th we gave out over 16,000 cuts so it's not as if people are not coming the only thing is that they need to be patient with INAG because the in fact the crowd is even overwhelming in some of the local government because as I speak now even today the cuts are still at the local government before we go to the world level so people are tripping out I will say that we have no people are tripping out but when we get to the world level that means the cuts will be brought closer to our people so that will give them enough opportunity to even come out the more now and we are going to make use of our personnel we also be more than what those people are using at the local government because we are going to make use of our core members that will join the process so that will make it faster and even seamless so so in other words you're saying that the reason why a lot of persons have not collected their PVC it's not because people are not coming out but that the process of collection is slow and you're trying to improve that I'm not saying the process is slow because if you get to any local government as we speak now they are so far collection between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and even in legal states the honorable resident Electoral Commissioner had even mandated all the Electoral Officers that you do not even close by 3 a time they close by 6 p.m. and not early day no no during the first week period they were all there and Saturdays Sundays inclusive so I am not saying that the process is slow when you get to any local government you'll see how they have done it array by array in a local government with my app like 10 arrays 11 arrays so you get there you see that the PVCs are being arranged array by array so I won't say the process is slow the only thing is that people should exercise patience if you can look at the figure I just gave you on the 4th of this January 16,000 quote across all the LGS we have in makers so you can see that we are not resting on our hours we are working assiduously to ensure that's all eligible registrants I will still tell them that before the end of the collection of the PVC on the 22nd they should be rest assured that all all eligible registrants will pay their cuts I'd like you to you know respond and react to the complaints across you know different parts of the country that the process of collection of the PVC has been very difficult some people say it's frustrating and necessarily the point that to you know staff of your agency that's INEG to say it's it's so impossible you know the attitude and what have you some people have also talked about the time I have a complaint here and someone said the process of collection is crazy you will spend the whole day just to be the one I mean just to collect a card a small card they're not even a range I just tie up but I must collect it sure but these are some of the comments right and so I like to respond to this because if you look at the comments you have also agreed to the fact that a lot of persons are willing to collect their PVC's but on the other hand the people are complaining about the process which your agency is responsible for issuing you know these cards you're saying that the the staff the people are making it very cumbersome for straightening them in most cases they have been told that the cards are not ready so how do you react to all of these issues that have been raised by Nigerians in different parts of the States well thank you very much let me say this you know this you just said that we started a the collection of the PVC on the 12th that was when we waited for the all the PVC's be it transfer be it loss of PVC PVC be it the face and face we have been issuing this PVC over the time not even on the 12th but you know apologies to our people they really wait till they like last minute rush that's what I want to say they like last minute rush our offices have been opened on daily basis right from last year 2022 for this collection of the PVC's but people will not come out now that we ELEC has come out with the deadline that is when you now see people rushing rushing rushing out and like I said earlier I said people need to be patient everybody you want to come at the same time within two minutes you get your card the process is not like that because we still need to go through now we have this set of people called PVC desk officers those ones what they do is if you have your card they upload to say that you have collected your card and there are some people we have omissions for one reason or the other if they are me if their PVC's have not been printed they still have to upload to the national headquarters their database to let them know so there are so and you have to append your signature on the register that you have collected your card so but our people who want to come within a minute you collect your card it's not like that they only need to be patient with us and we still keep telling our people that they will get their cards so 20 seconds is still a long way or go we'll see that it's almost at our doorstep but as I said the other time when we get to the IRA level most people will have that opportunity because we are going to deploy more manpower to ensure the seamless collection of these cards so they only need to be patient we are giving them that assurance especially in Lagos I just told you that we have even extended our collection time officially we talk to be between the hours of 9 and 3 p.m while in Lagos even 5-6 p.m we still give out the cards so they just need to be patient they will all get their cards well you know when you say patients then we begin to wonder because today is the 5th the elections will be on the 25th of February so it's about 20 days through the elections and how patients can the people be especially when they're very eager and willing to be part of the electoral process I also like to ask there's also been some concerns by the civil society organization saying that awareness has not been created by your agency I'll take for instance you have mentioned that INEC I mean there's collection of PVCs during the weekend but I ran into someone who wasn't really aware of course I'm previewed to all of this information and I was able to say hey you can get your PVCs on Saturday or Sunday and she said I never knew about this so you have also there's been several complaints about lack of awareness that the electorate are not really aware of the a lot of process or others going on with the entire process I like you to bring us to speed with the level of awareness that you have created you know for these elections in 2023 pre-elections the process of collecting the PVCs and the election proper well thank you very much I will not say our people are not aware the awareness is on the top get if the awareness is not up to the expectation of our people then wouldn't have been having gross mama crowd that we have at each unit at each local government for collection of the PVC before we embarked on this our collection of the PVC on the 12th we held stakeholders meeting at the state level and at the local government levels to carry our people along to tell them the modalities and the processes that we are going to embark upon for this collection of PVCs and when we talk about the stakeholders who know that different levels of people all the major stakeholders the traditional rulers were there the religious bodies were there these civil society organizations they were there the youths the media the people of the UDs so we don't want to agree that people are not aware because we spelt out our modalities so and at the local government we have 20 local government offices in legal state they all held their stakeholders meeting at the local government meaning those people that attended were from the grassroots so they told them they give them the modalities of how these PVCs will go that on weekends will be there from social time to social time and even this the world level we are going tomorrow they they would not say they are not aware they were all aware so the awareness is there and even at the local government level let me say this we have those we call voter education desk officers their only responsibility is to go from one market to the other to tell our people what INEC is doing at a particular moment and this they have embarked upon and they are still doing it on daily basis to go to their respective domain to sensitize people that this is what we are doing we are devolving to the array by social time within this date and this date so I will not want to agree with our people that they are not aware of this process not entirely aware of the process but you know the the special dates that have been put out because a lot of persons are not in the know that PVCs can be collected during weekends that's Saturdays and Sundays and that's also not you know something that a lot of people know but let's move away from that because there's no time as much as we ask that the people be patient we really do not have time I'd like you to run us through the plans that you have to ease the collection of PVCs between this period that was speaking before the elections in 20 of course the 25th of February 2023 the plans we have for the collection of the PVC I'm asking that what no I'm asking that what plans have you made to ease collection I mean to make sure that the process is you know seamless easy but all of the you know complications that people have complained about everything that all of the struggles that you know legosians and those in different parts of you know country are complaining about what steps have your agency taken to ensure that people can get their PVCs part of the steps we have taken is we have been talking about it all along that is what we're seeing now to make it more seamless is this issue of devolving the cash to the areas now for our people to know because some people might say we don't even know where our areas are now at each local government the Honourable Resident Electoral Commissioner had mandated all the electoral officers to paste each area in their domain at the local government level and even in Aineka legal state we have us oh well we have been disconnected uh right here at Denikah Tadishin social media and on facebook page yeah at Denikah we had a disconnection prior to this time I'd like to make up to you later at Denikah can you please hear us okay so so we have been disconnected but very very important all that has happened has happened I mean there's really nothing that we can do about it it's like spilling over crying over spilled milk now that we have how many more days before the elections do we have at Denikah at Denikah back on the line okay at Denikah we apologize we've been having a bit of network connections right here well if you can hear me it's good to have you back so I know that you have mentioned the areas that's what you said something like that but I want you to break it down okay the agency what have you done so that everybody can understand you're saying are you taking the pvc collection to local governments those who registered in different local government can they go to another look what does this mean what does this entail how can the people collect their pvc if you have registered in a particular local government but I'll take for example I registered at a kushofa local government you cannot go to pedagre and say you want to go and collect your cards I know our people they know this because during the registration exercise after their registration they were issued with a slip that will tell them that they're spelt out their view numbers where their pu they are already have on on on the temporary slip giving to them and that is what they bring to collect their pvc so I want to say that our people they know we are the group and they are becoming out to collect the cards so and then that one is not it's there's no controversy on that they know and you have even been telling our people that even if you collect your card on election day because these cards are going to be authenticated by our beavers this we have told us the others but with our beavers and they all know what beavers means that is by modern voter accreditation accreditation system that is what we are going to use to uh uh uh accredit each uh voter on election day so the pvc collection and that is why our people are just they know the necessity of getting their pvc so you know no no so I think that would be important because we're doing this for the collective good of the country and that's what it is because when we constantly you know stay on this other side to say our people know the people know we're just assuming that everybody knows so not everybody knows so let's let's say that what has happened has happened now we have 20 days before the elections or they're about uh you say your agency has is taking steps to ensure that people get it seamlessly so get to your local government what did they need to know how did they need to get to it because we can't assume that everybody knows because not everybody knows that's the truth that is what I'm saying now you know from the 12th uh December that we started this uh uh collection of the pvc they've been going to our local government offices and if they go to any because today is the last day for local government uh uh collection of the pvc that will now devolve to the iris now if they want to know they have various iris just like I have said what is iris that is the world level registration areas we have 245 in legal state 245 so for them to know their iris they can go to their various local government we have pasted it on the wall for them and even on our social media and those in Lagos we are we are on twitter we are on instagram at iNet Lagos and also on facebook page we are on iNet Lagos HQ capital H capital Q so we have uploaded all those iris there for people to go and check we are people so like I said the other time they have their sleep giving to them when they went for their registration so that's the last sleep they have their iris there so they can know their location and we did that when we were doing uh display of preliminary register of voters to their iris to to check their the correctness of their data on the register which they did so the same array is where we are going now so if you are going just ensure you go with your temporary sleep and even if you have lost it go with our meetings of identification so that we will know we'll be able to ascertain you are the right owner because we don't give out these pvc's by proxy nobody can collect on behalf of another person so once you were physically present when you are doing your registration definitely you have to be physically present when you want to collect your cards so just unveil yourself the opportunity as we are devolving to the array now to ensure you come out with your sleep and if your name is omitted on the uh with the printing of the pvc the rest assured that the the pvc desk officers will take notes of that and definitely the cards will be printed before the end of the 22nd when the pvc collection will expire oh okay well i really don't know if you have any last words to add to this you constantly talked about the arrays you're talking about the words so you're saying that from today a pvc collection is moving from local government towards and so people should find out the words where this local government are associated to collect their pvc's that's what you mean yes yes yes yes and after because we are going from 6th to 15th of january so after 15th that means on the 16th we are going back to the local government offices so from today to continue the collection of them okay so from today uh people should go to their tomorrow from tomorrow okay people should go to the wards the awards yes they should go to their arrays okay between the hours of 9 a.m 3 p.m but i just told you that i naked legal states has extended the collection time so we are not going to close by three on daily basis inclusive of weekends okay so they should please go as from tomorrow but on the 16th we are going back to the local government offices okay so it means that you no longer be available at the word at the local government from tomorrow to be issuing the people tomorrow yes nobody will be there to attend to them because every member of staff at the local government are moving to the array we are moving there so if you just go you might go there to check your array which will be based on which has been tested on the world of each local government but you need to go to the array to collect your anchor i'm just wondering if that's not going to be too difficult for the people but we'll leave this conversation to have it anytime soon uh just before uh you know the election period thank you so much adenica for being part of the show this morning thank you very much all right we appreciate your time uh we've been speaking with adenica tadish the head of department voter education and publicity department right here in legal state would you appreciate your time this morning and we hope that legations will trip out in the numbers to collect the appeavuses in the arrays just like you have mentioned we take a break when we return the conversation continues right here please stay with us