 Welcome back to the breakfast on PLOS TV Africa. We're now talking politics now with the 2023 elections in view and to join us we've invited Mr Festus Okui of the Chair Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC. Good morning Mr Okui, thanks for joining us. Yeah, good morning. There's a lot of talk about the 2023 elections and the Anambra elections, the presidential elections. There's just so much coming up in the next few years for Nigeria and our politics. How is INEC getting ready for that? Well, we have released the time table and schedule of activities for the said election and as you are aware so many of the political parties have already set the date for the organization of their party primaries and other activities leading to the election. As you are aware, we are trying to present those voting points into political units. And the moment we conclude that on the great date of June, we will start the continuous voter registration exercise. Now this continuous voter registration exercise will enable those who have never registered before and who have turned 18 to register. It will also enable those who have had problems of verification and authentication to rectify whatever challenges they have. Those two students have been defaced, can also have your PPCs changed. Why do people who have moved for one look after the other can also do some level of exercise? And since we have an election in Anambra, we are going to start the PBR on the 28th of June and then pause around the office. We will have to print the permanent broadcast of people in Anambra State. And then after the elections, we will also resume. But the implication is that we are going to deploy more tasks and more equipment to Anambra State in order for us to capture all the people who do not have any legal disability. We are getting ready for the next election. All right, Mr Okoye, I see that INEC has been doing great so far with the preparation for the elections. But it seems that time and time again in Nigeria, when it's never an election period, one thing we begin to see is, you know, ASAN is setting fire to, you know, INEC buildings, you know, burning down, you know, lots of materials to be used for elections. And just yesterday, we heard the news about the INEC local government office in Akwaibom set ablaze. What is INEC going to do about this? I mean, we've seen this already, less than two years to the elections. What are the plans INEC was going to be putting in place? Are we going to ensure that we have, you know, just what are the, you know, security measures, you know, that will be put in place to ensure that ASANists can get no closer to, you know, INEC offices and electoral materials? Well, you know that what the Commission is doing as a president is that we make sure that all our local government and the state offices take inventory of all the electoral materials available at that place. This will enable us to have an inventory of all our materials, have a data of all our materials, know where the supporters are, know where our strength are, and then begin to prepare endlessly for the credit when the train elections. And for a place like Amandran, we have to do procurement of materials that are not available, begin to do trainings for all the election workers as well. We are liable with the degree agencies to make sure that all our facilities, both at the local government level and at the state level, are protected. And we're also making sure that we show some of these materials against some of these hazards. I believe that the facilities of the Independent National Electrical Commission are of national importance, and I don't know why people should forget our facilities and our offices for purposes of setting them on fire, but we are liable with the relevant authorities to make sure that all our materials and all our offices and all our essential materials are protected from some of these challenges. All right. There's a news report that says the delay in passage of the electoral bill might be a challenge with regards to 2023 elections. I quickly respond to that. How urgent and how much does INEC need that the electoral bill to be passed for us to have better elections in 2023? And is there any hope that that might happen? Well, the responsibility of the commission is to organize, undertake, and supervise all national elections. And that's exactly what we are doing, and hope we'll continue to do. As a president, there is an electoral act that is enforced, and there is a constitution that is enforced. And since there has not been any amendment to the law, the existing law that is enforced will be the existing law that will be used in the conduct of the governorship election in Anambra State. But we have worked very closely, collaboratively and collectively, with the National Committee on INEC and the House Committee on Electoral Matters, to make sure that we make the necessary amendments to the electoral legal framework to guarantee better elections. And that confidence that in the next few months, the both houses of the National Assembly will pass the amended electoral act. What we have done is to propose the repeal of the existing electoral act and bring in all the previous amendments that have been made into one document, and then we enlarge and have an electoral act 2021. And so that is where we are now. And we believe that when it is passed, it will include more concretely the smackers within the electoral act, and also give the commission the ability and the window to deploy technology in the conduct of elections. And so we are confident that the electoral act will pass. Okay. You spoke about technology now. Can you share with us a bit of what type of new technology might be involved in the electoral process? If the bill is passed, what changes we expect it to see with regards to technology? Well, one of the things that the commission is trying to do is to include into an electoral process a new generation of technology. Because as you go, technology is dynamic and technology keeps on changing. And so what we have at five is that the commission is giving the latitude, the leeway, and the discretion to deploy renewable technology to the electoral process. We don't want any particular technology to be included into the electoral act. For instance, for the continuous-bottom registration exercise, we are going to deploy what we call the hybrid, which is the new generation of the registration device. And we're also looking at the possibility of deploying electronic voting machines during the 2023 elections. And so we believe that we will continue to deepen the use of technology, the electoral process, and deepen and also make sure that we remain within the confidence and ambit of new technology which exists in the world. And so we continue to try and defend the electoral and technological solutions in the electoral process. All right. So ahead of the 2023 elections, just saw in the news that one of the things INEC is planning to do is to set up over 52,000 new polling units. And I see that in the past few days, that's what you've been doing. You've been going around states commissioning the newly converted polling stations, you know, in schools, you know, across Nigeria. What is the plan for that? Well, we're almost done with this particular compassion. Presently, all the national commissioners I eat the source bread which provides. Presently, I'm dedicated, and I'm on my way to Sokoto State, to verify all of these polling units that have been, all the voting points that have been combated into polling units. We want to reduce overcrowding in our polling unit. We want to reduce the level of violence in our polling unit. We want to make sure that vulnerable in Asia have access to the polling units. We also want to make sure that our polling units are as comfortable as possible. And we also want to take away some of the voting points that we have provided into new polling units to move on the side and on sub-area. We have to be closer to their home and also closer to their working places. And they don't have to take 10 kilometers in order to get to a polling unit. So that's what we are doing now. And it's all of the places where we have gone to. The people have been very, very enthusiastic. And we have moved the polling units away from places of religious worship and from places of traditional rulers and also away from crimes into specials places and into public practices. We are very, very enthusiastic about what we have done. And so the new registrants, during the continuous protest registration exercise, we have new polling units that we serve them and new polling units that we declare them to them. So I believe that we are on the threshold of history. Something that has not been done in the last 25 years has not become a reality. And we are very, very happy about that. Okay. You say you're moving the polling stations away from, you mentioned shrines and the palace of traditional rulers. So apart from schools, where will these new polling stations be sited within our communities? Well, we are looking at the public facilities, town, community halls, especially schools and other public places. We don't want any place that will be restricted. We also want facilities that are accessible and facilities that are closer to the people and facilities that will give us enough space and enough space to deploy our staff and also make sure that we conduct a good election. The security situation in the country today, I believe, is one of the things that Anneke has also bothered about. How does that affect plans for the Anambra elections and of course for the 2023 general elections? The thoughts of postponement of elections because of insecurity and all of that have started to creep in here and there. And so how much does that bother the independent National Electoral Commission? Well, I think every Nigerian that has a conscience, every Nigerian that is patriotic, every Nigerian that wants this country should be bothered about the security situation in the country. And it is our hope and prayer that all the political leaders will unite and make sure that we degrade this aspect of insecurity that we have in the country. But as a member of the Anambra, it is our responsibility to continue to prepare for elections because our notions are constitutionally circumscribed. If you don't conduct elections within the constitutionally prescribed time frame, you will not be contrary to a constitutional crisis. And we believe that it is, it will be scary and it will be a complete application of constitutional and legal responsibility for us to stop preparations of insecurity. We believe that the Nigerians should come together and make sure that we degrade this insecurity and move ahead with our democratic process because that is the way to go. Okay. Can you also speak on voter apathy? I believe the 2020 elections are going to be flooded by a lot of Nigerians wanting to ensure that they are part of it. And so, you know, is there going to be new ways that INEC, you know, will ensure that as many possible people are registered to vote and take part in the elections? Oh, well, this expansion of pulley relief is one of the needs and ways by which the commission will increase the people's access to the voting power, to the pulley units and also reduce voter apathy. We are going to make sure that all the young men and women who are registered and who are willing to register get an opportunity of registering. All the people who have had one challenge or joined up with their family in Potaskas and we have those challenges appropriated. And we are going to mount very robust and strategic enlightenment programs to make sure that our people understand the importance of voting, understand where their pulley units are, and also understand that it is important for them to give robust money to whoever they want to elect. And so, we are preparing very robustly for the 2023 elections and we are confident that with some of the programs and policies we have in place, that we will have better turnout during these elections that we are planning. All right. First of all, Coye, chairman, information and voter education committee, INEC, thank you so much for your time on the program this morning. Thank you so much. We wish you a great day ahead. Thank you. Yeah. We'll go on a short break here and we'll be right back to stay with us.