National Association of Seadogs, Pyrates Confraternity, on Tuesday, sensitised Nigerians on the need to fully participate in the elections commencing on February 25.

Four NAS decks comprising Ash Montana (Abeokuta), Katamaran (Ijebu & Remo), Atlantis (USA) and Magna Carta (Europe) collaborated to power a phone-in radio programme, Citizens’ Forum, on Rockcity FM 101.9, Abeokuta, to reach out to the electorate on the forthcoming general elections.

The live phone-in programme was also streamed live on Facebook and rockcityfmradio.com.

Four guest speakers featured on the programme. They spoke on the topic: “Effective Electioneering Process, Roles and Limits.”

The four guest speakers included the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ogun State, Mr Niyi Ijalaye; Senior Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to National Chairman, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), Comrade Kunle Sodipo; National Secretary, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Comrade Folarin Olayinka and a Labour leader, Comrade (Nurse) Abdrafiu Alani Adeniji.

The Ogun INEC REC expressed INEC preparedness for the elections, disclosing that the commission had already distribution all the non-sensitive materials required for the exercise on Saturday.

Explaining the guidelines for the election, Ijalaye enjoined all citizens to be orderly and peaceful in getting accredited and voting during the exercise.

He urged all citizens to defy all the current challenges and come out en masse to vote for the candidates of their choice on Saturday and in subsequent elections.

He warned that failure of citizens to actively participate in the civic duty of voting during the forthcoming elections could have negative consequences for the society and country at large.

Ijalaye said, “I will look at it from the point of view of patriotism. We have no other country to call our own. Of course, I agree that we have great challenges in the country today – inadequacy of fuel and no access to monies in the bank. It’s unfortunate, but I think that the way to go is to come out, defy whatever challenges we may have, come out on that day and vote for candidates of your choice so that tomorrow will be better.

“If we don’t do that, we stand a risk of living with the current type of situation for another four years. So, the way to go will be to sacrifice that day, defy all odds, come out, even in hunger, come out and vote for tomorrow. Vote for our children, vote for the upcoming generation and vote for good governance, vote for the candidate of your choice.”

On the guidelines for the election, the REC said, “The poll will open at 8:30am. Voters are expected to be apolitical as much as possible. There will be no campaigns at the polling units. There will be no wearing of apparels of political parties. There must be no violence of any sort at the polling units and there must be cooperation with the polling officers.

“The first thing to do is to go there and ascertain your name is on the list. Thereafter, you approach the polling officer who will also look at the records and thereafter, the other officials will use the BVAS to accredit the would-be voter and of course, the voter will be given the ballot paper and he’ll go into the cubicle and he’ll vote for the candidate of his choice. Thereafter, he’ll put the ballot paper inside the appropriate box. There are three boxes for the election. One for presidential, one for senatorial and the third one for House of Representatives.

“Having folded the paper, he’ll put it in the box. I must say at this point, when we are voting, we must vote in the particular spot opposite the party we intend to vote for so that our fingerprint does not invalidate that vote.”

CDHR national secretary on his part, expressed sympathy with all Nigerians over the current situation of fuel and currency scarcity.

He, however, stressed that it is the right of every citizen to participate in the selection of their leaders, adding that the only power they have to do that is through their votes during elections.

Olayinka urged all citizens to encourage one another on the need to participate in the forthcoming general elections, which he described as “historic.”

He disclosed that the CDHR had already deployed its observers all over Ogun State and the rest of the country to monitor the forthcoming general elections.

The CDHR national secretary said, “Let’s go through the ballot and choose among the choices that are being presented before us. We should ensure that our votes count and Nigerians should take time to trust INEC this time round. With the innovations and everything we are seeing, we are having assurances that gone are those days you believe in rigging. If you are not popular, you’re not popular.

“Let the electorate decide who they want to vote. Let’s stop every form of electoral violence. It won’t take us anywhere. It wouldn’t even have any effect from what INEC has been saying. If you snatch ballot box, it will not have any effect on the election.

“It will be a disservice for us to kill ourselves because we want to usher in politicians or new leadership. So, we just have to avoid every form of electoral violence.”

Another guest, Comrade Adeniji, who represented the organised Labour, said the Nigeria Labour Congress had enjoined all workers to choose leaders of their choice since they have the freedom to exercise their franchise.

He warned that if Nigerians failed to freely vote for the candidates of their choice, the implication would be felt beyond the four-year tenure of the politicians.

He said, “We are working with all the civil society allies to ensure that we are not slaves on our own fatherland. What do we mean by this? A free Nigerian should be able to come out and vote on the day of election for the candidate of his choice. One thing we should bear in mind is that if we fail to do this, the implication is beyond four years. The implication is for life and the implication will determine the type of life our children and our grandchildren will live. As a result, NLC is prepared to be a progressive partner to those who wish this country well.”

The representative of the PCRC, Comrade Sodipo, assured all Nigerians of the readiness of the police to provide adequate security to all voters and Nigerians in general throughout the election period.

He said police personnel had been trained and taken through the rudiments of the challenges of election conduct.

Sodipo added that the members of the PCRC had been educating Nigerians, including the youths on the forthcoming general elections.

He said, “We have sensitised the youths, market women and others. Parents should monitor the conduct of their children on Saturday and during subsequent elections.

“Youths should not sell their votes. All security agencies are ready for the elections.”

All the guest speakers expressed appreciation to the Pyrates Confraternity for being the driving force behind such an elaborate enlightenment radio programme on the forthcoming general elections.

They also commended NAS for affording them the opportunity to participate in the programme aimed at the conduct of free and fair general elections in the country.