2023 Elections: NAS Sensitizes Benin Residents

As expectation mounts over the 2023 general elections, the National Association of Seadogs (NAS), aka Pyrates Confraternity, Benin One Branch, weekend, organized a sensitization programme for residents of Benin City.
Project Manager of the association, Ibrahim Oven said the exercise is aimed at encouraging the electorate on rightful conducts during the elections.
He urged the electorate to vote wisely for the candidates that they think and feel would best create the enabling atmosphere for the dividends of democracy to thrive.
“What we have come out to do today is to ensure our vote counts. This is usually what we do when an election is near and to educate and inform the people there on voter education-on the need to vote, ; to why they should vote; to mobilize them to know how to vote on the particular day that election would hold .
“We have been doing it from stage to stage; we did the pre – knowing how many people have collected their voters’ cards, their PVCs so that they can vote. We have been moving from one centre to another to ensure we identify the problems that people are facing in trying to collect their PVCs and to also, know how to overcome those challenges. So, we have done all that in terms of mobilization for people to go and pick their PVCs to enable them vote for their choice candidates.
“We, as a body are apolitical, we don’t actually preach political parties. All we preach is that people should be able to make up their minds on the need to vote, so that the change they want can start with them by carrying out their own civic responsibility by voting. Today, we have come to the side of Benin City, at Dumez road axis, to sensitize the people on Sapele road, Dumez road and market women and traders in the market to vote the right candidates and give them the various dates the elections would hold.
“Februray25, 2023 is the Presidential and National Assembly polls and on March 11, 2023 is the Governorship and House of Assembly elections. That is what we are doing now, “ he added. So far from what we have seen, the programme is very successful because the people are very enlightened and they are eager to see that very day to vote their conscience,” Oven stated.
He said the Seadogs would be mobilizing on election days to ensure votes count.
“So, what we expect to see on monitoring that day is that we will go there to monitor the elections to ensure the peoples’ votes are properly counted, and those votes are protected,” he added.
Commenting on some of the challenges observed during their monitoring to various centres, Ibrahim Oven said, “Some of the basic problems we faced during our monitoring is that a lot of registrations were done in different centres but people were not coming out to collect their PVCs. So, there is a whole lot of PVCs that were not picked up.
“The question now is that the registrations may not translate into the voting because a lot of people didn’t really come out to collect their PVCs. A lot of PVCs are still there unpicked. So, we went out to various areas affected and educated and sensitized the people. We did jingles on AIT Station and other media organizations and educated and informed the people to collect their PVCs. We also informed them about the deadline.”
He advised the voters to go and vote wisely, and to make sure their votes count.
Alhaji Braimoh Emozozo added that they came out to let people know that voting is next to collection of the PVC.
“We are now telling people that having registered and collected their PVCs, you need to now go and vote for the right candidates. Come on February 25 and March 11, 2023 to vote your conscience, and make sure your votes counts. Vote for candidates of your choice. We are not asking you to vote Party AB C or D, we are only asking you to vote your choice candidates.
“Vote for who you think can deliver the common basic amenities to the Nigerian people because we are determined to have a new Nigeria the way things are going on in this country today. Our duty as NAS is to enlighten the public and to make them move with the present development and follow up with the new trend on how it should be and how we can guide you to make Nigeria better; that is why we are here now,” he said.
Another NAS member who spoke during the sensitization exercise, Pastor Ojemekele Inehita, told some of the market women who thought they were members of a political party that they are a neutral body who came to educate and sensitize them to vote their conscience.
Pastor Inehita explained:”What we are trying to do is to make sure people come out to vote for their preferred candidates and vote wisely”.
He told them that the National Association of Seadogs is the body sponsoring the message and appealed to the market women and traders to ensure they talk to their brothers, sisters, friends and other relatives to come out to vote on election days.
Pastor Ojemekele advised them not to sell their votes but come out in enmasse to cast their votes for the most competent and best candidates of their choice.