 Welcome back, it's still Balot's 2023 coming to you from the stables of PLOS TV Africa and expectations are sky-high as a Nigerian's waiter who will be the next president and of course members of the National Assembly and we'll start the show from Kanu. We have a correspondent I'm standing by Enoch who'll be giving us a live update at the Collation Center. We'll also be going to Kaduna in a moment but let's take let's take Joseph Hayab right or who do we have standing by all right let's take Enoch Steven let's get more update from Kanu at this particular time thanks for joining us Enoch. Good afternoon thank you for having me so currently I'm at the Kanu State Collision Center here in the Anaket Quarters in Kanu and the coalition has been postponed to 2 o'clock because we're still expecting results from different local government areas currently we have the results from Makoda, Rumingado, Kibia and Garumala yes so we're just patiently waiting for the results to come from other local government areas and by 2 p.m the Anak official announced that the results will start so the question was that I have Abdul Ghaffar Aladimiji who is a domestic election observer here who would like to share his thoughts with us okay good afternoon thank you for joining us yeah so um can you share your thoughts with us how has the election been so far as as an election observer? Well the election has been fine I would like to say at this stage from our observation that basically there were challenges yes there were challenges but theories did not get issued most of the places theories did not get their time there were issues of logistics there were issues of situations where some adopts are kind of did carried out the picketing saying they were not going to work I said they were going to be paid but what is interesting about what really made it a bit oppressive is either because they were going to respond quickly and mobilize the resources to address most of these issues transporters lies to make sure at the end this material has got there pulling it we're supposed to start at 8 open at 8 30 but in some places it's 9 30 10 30 11 11 p.m people were there waiting but the good thing there is that uh when INEC eventually arrived they made sure that uh people were able to exercise their franchise all right all to the areas of this moment from the reports we're getting from some of our observers in some areas people were still casting their votes and most of the results we are not being confined to any hours of this moment and that is why when we arrived at the INEC it put us this morning we found out that most of the results are yet here and coalition has not started because of the reasons I've just cited but in the whole world it has been pleased to compare to what we used to know in the past uh we there were minimal issues of power that is compared to the past where there were a lot of snatching a lot of stopping and things like that and again the issue of uh non-politics this time from the reports we are getting trust me never and we saw so many agencies like the uh uh economic and financial crimes commissions agents from the icpc police and undercover there are officials from the dss undercover where they went round and they were really really charged and so we saw more politicians less less less having an influence in kind of politics the way it used to be in the past so I think so far so good INEC uh you must comment there for the job they don't hope for and the security agencies also you must keep that to so far they were from the result we got that the level of partisanship was very minimal contact i've been following elections in canals since 2011 uh i think this time is minimum i think so are you confident in the whole process yeah we have to be confident because you see you see when we said it's okay is this is the first time we adopted this procedure so ordinarily you wouldn't have expected INEC to have performed this better because you would have expected excuses like this is new the procedure is new these are pivots is new and things like that but it is new but at least to a certain level not that there were no failures here that we saw situations where some machines refused to start we saw situations where even those that were supposed to open the machines were not conversant with the operational methods of the machines we saw situations where uh even the machines were partially mark functional but what we're saying here is INEC was able to respond to these emergencies so being the first time we were using the pivots a traditional procedure and they've been able to do this to perform this fair i think if we do do in the process it's going to get better all right thank you very much so that's coming from a domestic election observer who said the election process went um fine good although there are some new issues or logistics but by and large it has been a smooth process so we're still here waiting for results from 14 local government areas yes we have only four here and we're efficiently waiting for a religion to start at 2 p.m all right i'm in okay just before we'll let you go i know the elections are over as per voting the voting process specifically and residents are waiting with baited breath to know which way or which direction it actually pans out but from um aren't you want to know um how the people are reacting this month i'm sure you have been able to speak to residents um across them canon etropole is uh what's the polls like okay so around the 50 people are still you know not outside yet most people are still in their homes the road was very very scanty you know we had free access there was no hold up no you know um issue on the road so most people were still in there were they had few people going to charge this money very few people going to charge this money and you just your homes waiting for the result to be answered and uh the job to be out so i went to a particular area around farm center and i spoke with some most of them were very happy and they they felt like they are they are most counted this time all they are waiting for is just the result to be out most of them are happy and they are in the place where we had issues you know the issues were resolved and um votes are coming and people are just waiting patiently for the results well thank you so much uh inok steven our correspondent from the ancient city of cano bringing us up to speed as regards to the election process there thank you so much i want again inok thank you very much and of course i would get back to you uh say from 2 p.m when the collision center will be back open thank you all right i will slide on next to kaduna state we have the chairman of the christian association of nigeria the state chapter that these are reverend joseph i'm high up uh joseph i'm high up thanks for staying with us reverend you for having me and good afternoon yeah good afternoon to you uh so far i've been looking at the place of uh you know the religious uh institution and of course uh the leaders in the role of the nation's democracy but so far so good uh the elections uh the voting process ended yesterday although some part of the country are still uh either voting as we speak but if you were to uh rate uh the religious leaders in their actions some inactions and of course all they've been doing before the polls how far would you say they've been able to you know make uh eligible voters uh you know know they're right and come out uh to the polls um yesterday how far did they go how would you rate them i'm going to say that uh despite some of the interpretation of the actions and words of many religious leaders the success of the general participation of this election can be can be credited to the effort of religious leaders because religious leaders longed during the polls of registration did a lot of awareness in churches and in walks encouraging people to come out in mass and ensure that they get their voters card after that religious leaders proceeded to help them ensure that they collect their cards as a pastor and the leader of the church in katuna i know we hold leaders we make announcement in every meeting we have to repeat and encourage everyone to go and get his peace and then when it was time for election also know the role religious leaders play in encouraging everyone to ensure they go out and vote they go out and vote because it is their civil crime and i know that uh Muslim runners also did exactly the same so religious leaders have really played in the room but haven't said that i do also know that uh some utterances and actions of some religious leaders could also have uh affect this uh politics and election negatively because they were more on the part of instigating inciting and saying things that are not instead of helping the people to just wake up and do what is their civil crime for those who did that it's unfortunate but that is why we're human being will have others who are mobilizing and encouraging promoting unity talking about peaceful election and we'll also have others who probably look at it differently at the attack champion sentiment champion what is not but whatever role people play at the end the election has been conducted now what we expect is the result and what i will encourage and appeal to religious leaders especially those who were in the part of the negative towards they just allow the result to decide who we let the result decide who actually might don't sit and encourage people to be saying things that are not if you believe so much in prayer please just go in and pray prayer supposed not to be screaming on top of people's heads prayer is commune with god asking god to answer and give us the leader we want if we do that then would have helped the system would have done well as uh would have shown a good example to others who are incidentals but hitting up the polity now will not be good for us and will not be good even for those who we think we are acting with them all right uh reverend hiya but it's good you mentioned as some religious leaders who have actually gone a further than they should have because there is an ongoing conversation as to the extent to which the religion or religious leaders can play in the leadership making process of the country some believe that the the role of religious leader should stop at voter education and not exactly advise them about who they should vote for because we have had an insane report where leaders of churches and even some must have actually told their congregants who they should vote for is that right well you know we are coming out from different experiences in this country and sometimes people react according to their experiences and then number two we also have a situation where a larger fold seems not to be well informed even though they may understand the information or the kind of knowledge that's available about the political process where they lack certain basic information as the pastor I can tell you how many pastors or many Christians we are calling you are you our leader tell us where to go tell us who to vote for I try to exercise with strength I have what's saying and I never said it uh but this part that I still have in some people would talk that I said they should vote for this one because as a leader we are trying to warn them against this uh the politicians will ask you what we are using in warning your people against the candidate if you vote do not suit them they will actually tell you the candidate they should vote or your people the candidate should vote but I'm not sure many religious ever I had some pastors even say vote for someone who has a Christian name or what someone will vote for the most well that is the way they think they will do but I want to believe that the people are informed to a level that since the voter their voters can't belong to them and they are that single person that will enter into the voting place and not his pastor not the elder of his church for a weekend so we must give people that respect of that independence and privacy we what I know can be the answer is just in the quality of the leader we should vote for if you find in all those available someone with that quality vote for him if you do not find someone with that quality don't vote for him when someone starts judging us that no by saying that quality you already refer them to vote then they are not being honest because uh that means you are also they are also accepting that their candidate is not good because if your candidate is good and possess the right quality we've talked about quality and quality is not a name it's not the name and name party it's not the quality of the pastor so they wear this also mix up around and there are some pastors who even preach and said that if you don't vote for a particular candidate you won't vote for them I came out publicly and I respected that and I told them that there's no thing about we're going to take care of when it comes to voting uh people are just voting for their leaders and let them exercise with their freedom and not start mixing ideology accept mixing my theology we'll complete together so how am I going to be correcting that so I cannot get the logical position just for election and that's the legal position I felt you know my theology about salvation stands the day I gave my life is just back until I'm going to leave this act so I'm not going to confuse my followers I'm going to confuse those I teach to them some of them may not understand someone may misrepresent the issue but the truth stands because when you meet me and I want to explain to you I'm telling you not to vote for candidate A or Z or EE but simply vote for people who have social quality because they would deliver the goods they will start based in Nigeria they will take Nigeria to the promised land ah the church did that but we also have people in the church who actually name our major name I'm not going to start judging them but I wouldn't do what they did because I feel when people come to church they didn't come to church for me to decide the name of the wife they are going to marry simply for me to write them on the part of truth and the part that will lead them to heaven and in understanding that they would know with wife suit that lifestyle with government suit that lifestyle but when I start telling them you must marry Esther or you marry Grace then I'm going out of my hand or you must vote for Jay or vote for me then I'm going out of the boundary so I have to know my boundary and my boundary is to inform and guide and we did that religiously. All right you said that you know your boundaries that should just be um um a guide or a guardian as it were you know to your ship and your flock your courgettes those who actually look up to your spa a sense of direction but what would you really say most people are of the opinion that some school of thought believes that um the country would actually be headed in the right direction if more religious leaders as it were you know vie for political office positions in Nigeria do you agree? Well you see the Bible says that it is God that calls some to be prophets some apostles some to be teachers some to be administrators and some to be counselors uh for the equipment of God's kingdom or God's service um properly guiding people for righteousness so what that verse simply says is that God have a different calling for different people uh I may not be a good governor but I can be a good preacher I may not be a good preacher but I can be a good counselor I may not be a good counselor but I can be a good mobilizer so when people know where they are and their role it will help us well in this world and in this country we must help people to just come out and exhibit their gift but not asking them to do what is not they are calling a pastor who probably knows how to mobilize may not really do the uh the leadership himself you could mobilize people to choose a leader but he cannot be the leader because if we give him then you will see a lot of mistakes in many of the Christian doctrines I went through this election campaign period what I told him is that I am I cannot I don't agree that uh I will take my car to someone who's not a mechanic because that person is of my religion but that person is of my tribe a mechanic that knows his job I will give my car to him and trust him to repair my car when I go to the airport to body flight to London or body flight to Lagos or body flight to the US or anywhere in part of the world I am not going to body flight because the pilot is a Christian or the pilot most of them with the pilot is a pastor and one illustration is that if you go to board a flight and they said okay sorry the pilot is not feeling fine but since your pastor is here your pastor can just go in and pick up the flight and take you to where you are going and you know that your pastor is not a pilot will you board that flight so because I'm a pastor do not mean I can be a governor I can be a president but if you are a pastor and you have that question of being governor or being president let's go ahead and do after rolling the first place you are in Nigeria before you become a Christian and before you become a pastor so as in Nigeria you have a civil responsibility to make this country move to make this country grow I have seen imams who are in government I've seen pastors who are in government some perform excellently well others didn't do well but because the other person did not do well do not sure that every pastor cannot do it or every man cannot do it it only simply said that he didn't really do the same assessment to know why is it that I can't perform what is it that I can't deliver myself if there are jobs I know how to do there are jobs I don't know how to do so if a pastor knows that he can deliver and represent the people well why not he is a citizen he has a right to vote and we voted for all right good one uh uh Reverend Joseph Hire but let's uh talk further about the actions of these religious leaders because uh just before we went to polls yesterday there were lots of prophecies as which were you know lots of people felt they were misguided because their pastors and their imams had told them that this particular candidate will eventually emerge a winner of this election do you really think the religious leaders should be doing that well I have just really explained to you that our calling and giftings are different there are some who believe they are proper there are some who believe in same vision and whatever it is and sometimes these visions are probably for their consumption but they want to share good people if they are doing it to show that they are powerful spiritually then it is unfortunate if they are doing it to get attack attention is also unfortunate but if fully they are convinced that God actually spoke to them and tell them and they are sharing what God told them then it is right but let me quickly put this very clear if a pastor claim to have prophecy and the prophecy do not come to pass he put his name into radical he put the name of his faith into radical so as a pastor you must be careful what you say and if you want to say it don't say God said you could say that from my from available indices from available statistics from available reports we are receiving it seems so the person could may win but when you say God hold you and it turns out to be the man do not win then you look stupid and you make your faith a laughing stock I don't want to subscribe to that the fact is that I have always tell people that pastors who think that same prophecy make them great pastors do not even know exactly what they are doing it's only in Nigeria that at any time we have elections you hear people saying this pastor prophesied that are the man prophesied as prophecies to me I know politics is about mobilizing people if you like prophesy one thousand time if you do not mobilize people to vote for that man the man will not win politics is about the person people vote for you could even have a whole year if you do not come out to vote for the man you want the man will not win so I want to appeal to religious leaders who play to the galleries sometimes or who want to show as if they are more powerful to hear from God to know that God loves everybody and there is nobody that God hates so your prophecy will not change God's plan for the other person you may prophesy that this one win and then God can decide to give the person you prophesy again to be the winner you will be the one to be I would always tell people look at the available sentences if you are convinced support the person if you're not convinced support what your conscience tells you but to say that God told me this man will be this this man will be that and then without clarity and that's why everything you see the prophecy is inconsistent today he prophesied this tomorrow he prophesied sometime they're even trying let me say try your luck when they say something they hope that that things will happen when anything near it happened then they start telling you see the prophecy is not popular within reality there's no attachment there's no connection between what they say and the prophecy that has happened but since we manipulate people's mind and want to play game with them it's unfortunate that people from the confession or from the call I belong some of us do that mistake I say is unfortunate but I also do believe that God speaks to people but if God is going to speak to people you will have a witness all right we must have a very big thank you to you Reverend Joseph Hayab the chairman from Keduna State thanks for all of them the imputes that you have brought them to ballots 2023 we do appreciate them thank you very much for having me and I pray that you will be patient and wait for the result the winner will eventually emerge and we will work together to make Nigeria what we want Nigeria to be thank you and go please yes god bless you too joining us live right now is the national leader of a fennec ferry a par ayo adi banjo good afternoon to you padi banjo thanks for joining us on the show padi banjo please can you unmute your device all right it's the ballots 2023 we'll take a quick break and we'll try and see we can reconnect with par ayo adi banjo in a moment do join us again hello hope you enjoyed the news please do subscribe to our youtube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates