 ఆలనివ౜ార్లోకిలులు ఆలినీట్డల్లినిబీవాలు పనిబరినే అకిల్చివ౭ాసంనెచిసితొంతాండిసితాపనిలిలినారినిఇచికి. Five days to the off-side elections in Biasa, Imo and Kogi states, and there have been fears that apathy and violence may merge the exercise in parts of the three states. However, the Chief of the Fenster General Christopher Moser has said there is no cause for fear. Speaking during the visits to three states where he held meetings with acts of security agencies, General Moser told stakeholders that troops will remain a political to ensure free, fair, credible and inclusive elections the Nigerians will be proud of. He said, I quote, Nigerians should have trust and belief in the security agencies by turning out to vote on election day. Do not be scared, security forces will be on the ground and will ensure your safety. Come out and vote. It will be a free, fair and inclusive process, unquote. Also, the civil society administrations, CSOs in Nigeria have put certain mechanisms in place to detect and expose electoral fraud. They lying heavily on the commitment they extracted from the independent electoral commission INEC on uploading election results on the result viewing portal IRF, the CSOs have mapped plans including advising Nigerians on how to gain access to the result portal to cross-check properly whether the elections are transparent or not. This is the first time that independent national electoral commission INEC will be conducting free off-cycle governorship elections simultaneously across different geopolitical zones. Joining me to discuss this is Uzo Uwone, Chairman, Africa Ambassadors Interactive Forum, Chairman, Ingo UK. My friend, good to have you, good to have you live. Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me. So from your reading of events from near the Aspera, I must call the UK now because those of you in the UK wouldn't get to be abreast of the news that most of us will live in Nigeria. From your reading, what is your take on this about to be held off-cycle elections? Well, it's interesting that they've come to the point now that these staggered elections have come to stay and hold in Nigeria without the whole general elections all been in one full swap. This time around, all we are hoping and wishing is that they should be able to get it right. And all the players and the participants should play by the rules. As long as they observe the rules of the game, we are all expecting a good outcome. And the government on this side should create a level playing field for all the parties so that whatever outcome that the election turns out to be will be acceptable and credible to all. But be it as it may, it's a learning curve. And this learning curve that Nigeria has been going through all these years and will keep the same incidence of violence, these are the aspects that we must stamp out. It is important that the electoral awareness, voter education and the security services are meant to remain professional and not get into the field. They should make sure that elections are held and all the materials and everything that is needed are provided and they should be timely delivery of all the things that are needed to make it a good credible election. That is what we wish and from dashboard here, we have been advocating that elections are not do or die after. We must get out of it. And above all, we will work force encouraging that the benefits and the trappings of office that induces this much of violence and people in your head bent on capturing office by the armies should be the emphasize we need to begin to bundle these offices and the perks around it. So, for now, this is my take and we are hoping and wishing that elections will go well. I think the original question I should have asked you, which is not too late to ask actually, would be in the backdrop of the reputation that INEC came out with the last general elections. What is your perception of INEC at this juncture, at this point? What is your perception of INEC? Electro body has a lot of work to do because they have been found wanting in the past elections and even the things that are happening in the courts because I don't see why they should conduct an election and there are so much dispute and the avalanche of court cases, you know, kind of really, really advise them. It's not too good for them. So, they have a whole lot to do to redeem themselves using these off-cycle relations so that we can see whether all the investment has been done to us getting elections right and being managed and delivered is able to be tested this time around so that there should be no excuses for whatever that may have occurred in the past. Let's use this now to see whether they have really, really woken up to their task. You don't perhaps think that many of our elections are decided by the courts because our political members of our political class are similarly a litigious clan of people. And what am I saying that? I know for sure as somebody who had once contested elections in the UK and I know that even when election results are disputed, people seldom go to court. In the last 150 years, there had only been one single post-ballot litigation in the UK. If my memory serves me right, in the last 150 years, so I know you are into election observation, you know, not only in the UK but in some European countries. How come that our politicians always tend to want to go to court? Well, it is the nature of the environment which they are putting. Like I was talking about the heavily induced, I mean the impacts of office that is main attraction for people to go into seeking public office rather than service. That is actually what is at the heart of it all. You were talking about the electoral districts. It's a rare thing, it really happens here. I have always observed elections for the UK election commission here and we also serve as adjudicators because wherever there are issues of disagreement, all parties are called and we there and then resolve it and everybody is always happy for it. I was to see how the processes work. In fact, on an election day, they saw a member of parliament come in, who happens to be a minister coming to catch the vote. He didn't come with no security. He came just like himself and introduced who myself and the team that came from Nigeria to observe relations and they were surprised. So that tells you that look, it's about service to the community, it's about service to your society, to the country. It's not about service to self. So once you remove these excessive pets and privileges and trappings of office, you will see that what will now emerge is people who are just interested in genuinely coming to serve, not people seeing a public office as a spring dot to a massive wealth. So that answers it in a nutshell. So because we don't have this, people don't have any other job other than hoping to get into politics, to mute it from the public treasury. So that is the main attraction and they will go to any length, they will go to the churches, they go to mosques, they go to the marabout, they go to the chief doctors, anything just to catch the office. And being very pragmatic at this point, what are the suggestions and ideas you have on denuding political offices of the pecs that have seemingly made, making the offices, they do or die, what are the suggestions you may want to provide at this point? It's simple. If you remove, I mean it's a job like any other job, and if you go by the rules of engagement to do your job, just like you're doing your job now, without all the pecs, excessive things that would padded into the job, and also the issue of lack of stretch and balance, where anybody can go and give their hand in the tube, take what they like, and nothing happens. There has not been any consequence for any bad behavior, for even outright problem. So as long as those consequences are not there and people are not afraid that I mean they will come on that this is just there, let me go there, you'll see the stories of people who were not doing anything in a couple of years, they becoming billionaires, only in Nigeria. There's no other place where you have that happening. And I've been following the trends recently of what, why should that be? It's down to, so I mean the answers are the truth out on all this, and it's surprising that in this day and age, we're continuing the same bad behavior, the same mismanagement and nothing happens, and everybody thinks it's all right. So there's no amount of risk that's unprofile. Majority of Nigerians actually know that it's not all right. It's just that I see more a culture of importance. People almost, you know, left for God, you know, the kind of left for God mentality that is, is like the political class as you know, suddenly become the uppermost case, you know, the uppermost case in Nigeria. I thought you are in winter. How come you are perspiring? The heater is on here. That's why you see me wearing livestock. Sorry, I never knew. I'm subjecting. I'm going to ask them to reduce the heating because you can see I'm very wearing a very light loading. That's good. At least it will reduce your energy cost. Chief, let's move now from, let's move to something more practical. I know you are familiar with emo in some respect. I know you are familiar with Bayeasa. I don't quite know. I decided indeed, I decided to invite you to guest on the show because I know you have a working understanding of Bayeasa and emo states, the political terrains in those states. You know, the days we used to flock together in England. Now, and in a way, you know, it used to be when elections would hold in Bayeasa, those of us in the diaspora would be a bit anxiety prone because of violence. But now, unfortunately, it's like emo may seem to have overtaken Bayeasa now in that anxiety, you know, predisposition to be afraid that things may go gaga. What's your take of the security situation around these elections, inclusive of Kobe? It's been tense. The tension around these elections, to be quite honest, is worrisome. And it shouldn't be. And this idea that people believe that once they have an office, it's automatic that they must return. Makes it probably more difficult. It's only once, if I recall, when somebody did one thing in emo, and that was Hakeem. And since then, it's been any person that comes, it's automatic. You have eight years. And, you know, performance is not really the benchmark. It's expression of whoever can grab it by force is unfortunate. And it's left for people. If they could be given the opportunity to choose, they should be able to make a decision on who should go and they have failed in emo state. But so far, the atmosphere of tension that is thick in the air is undesirable. I think even people needs to have the opportunity to have a say on who governs them for the next four years. You kept using pastors. So you don't, don't you believe that this election is going to be because you kept using used to, and I know you speak good English. So what I'm trying to say is that let the electoral empire use this opportunity to reassert themselves that they can deliver. I'm just being cautious in my optimism because we want to see that what played out in the last elections of violence, ballot bus 19, talk ring and all this despite all the investment that has been made towards getting elections right. So this time around, I'm only hoping that I next will rise up to the occasions and regardless of what pronouncements that are being made or that the people should also assert themselves to defend their votes. If the security services has always been compromising themselves or taking side because we saw them, there's an avalanche of evidence that were all over because this is digital error. But let us see that the people should stand up and defend their votes in the vote. That's all and let the vote come. Do you really looking at it now from your, from your cultured eyes, you know, I want to mean cultured eyes, you know, as an election observer, I know you seem to have observed one or two elections in the past in Nigeria before. I'm not sure but I know you do in the UK. Would you, by chance, believe that people will turn out to come and cast their votes in the atmosphere that may have been unfortunately created either by misinformation or the perception of violence? Do you think people will come out and vote? Well, the last election showed that people want to really vote because I remember in the days of people despite challenges, people came out to vote and I see it also happening this time around because people really want to see, see in who governs them. The awareness is on the increase. Despite intimidations, I think the voters are ready to vote. I really would love that people go out and really demonstrate their conviction by casting their votes for who so ever they like because that will really enrich our democracy. It's unfortunate that the last election had a turnout percentile that was less than 35 percent. Wouldn't that be disturbing in any liberal democracy for somebody like you? Of course, that is why I am saying that based on people's conviction that they need to have a say and also want to, I mean, demonstrate their civil rights in casting their votes for whoever is their preferred candidate that they need to go and vote is the one that they need to see for themselves. Let me throw the ball now to somebody like you and I. I think it's about time we took responsibility. What can we, people like us who are political, who are not politicians, non-partisans, what can we do to help and encourage our people to come out and vote? You are already doing that, Bhola. You are journalists of repute and you have been doing advocacy. So, on your own side and the media, it is to continue to enlighten people, to create their awareness so that the message will keep going down there that people need to do their own part. So, already, I mean, on the side of the media where you belong, on the side of civil society where you belong, we are carrying on with a lot of advocacy in terms of voter education, in terms of creating the necessary awareness that they have with their voter need to know so that they can be able to, I mean, get up to their responsibilities and then make sure that the right people get into the right places for betterment of the society and for also for improved service delivery. As somebody who gets called upon by UK politicians to come and give prep talk, can I employ you at this juncture? Can I enjoy you to look straight into your camera and talk to that average Nigerian politician who is going to be, who is going to be, you know, running for election in any of the three states, what you would expect of them. You never know, after all, after all, like somebody often joke with me, Jesus never left an army, he left a world. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, I never left an army, he left a world. We never know when the world will ultimately, you know, break the iron. So, you have any word of encouragement to go ahead, please. What I will tell our, what I will tell viewers and people in these areas where the elections are going to hold in this of circulation, that they should come out and vote and for the politicians, this will go by the rules of the game. It's not about do or die. It must not be an election. And there is no person's blood that is what the office you are seeking. Because people, what they are like, people have to be alive before you can be able to serve them. So, by killing many people just to get into the office, the question you ask yourself is that, is it what's all that trouble? So, if the answer is or the contrary, then the person has to, I mean, review their strategies and make sure that you convince that you're going to into any public office to serve and not to go and vote. I really want to, go ahead, go ahead, finish, finish well, finish well. Hello? Okay. I really want to say thank you, chief, if you're still hearing my voice. I really want to appreciate you, the masters of the game, my controllers in the bathroom have actually asked for a break and about time, about time I allowed them. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you very much. We go for a short break and when we are back, we take on the sophomore leg of the program.