 Welcome back to the breakfast here on plus TV Africa. It's now time for off the press We have a quick review of the major stories making headlines across Nigeria this morning We're starting with the punch newspapers just before we introduce our guest and it's going to be on your screen in Just a few seconds. There you have it. It says here Saturn's fault presidency attack on Grayson ban NEF slams Buhari It also says a land use act empowers governors to ban open Grayson It's straightforward. That's for me. She's a gay Herders right of movement doesn't over doesn't cover the right of cattle destroying farms Oh, yeah, T-boys saying and the South won't yield its land to invaders Masquerading as heads man governor Kerry DeLucer's We can also see on the Pontus Monon federal government and Delta Defer on 4.2 million pounds Eburri loot payment reps confused Asu alleges bribe for salaries in AGF office and massive IPP is fraud Mentally ill woman runk fully accused of baby theft and gone possession lynched in Lagos, it's a really sad story NDLE a plans drug tests for politicians and admission seekers also NPO backs a state police PIB and reduction in governance costs We can also see on the Pontus Monon on top of the screen MAN says petrol price hike inevitable demands transparency and expats fee inflation a CBN further the values Naira to 410 Naira to the dollar our next batch of vaccine supply likely in August says NPH CDA and I think we can just leave it there I think it EFCC narrows 10 billion Naira fraud probe to 10 PDP items spending Those are the stories that we will share on the Pontus Monon and Looking at the nation newspaper the headline reads presidency gets knocks for opposing open grazing ban I currently here says stance trucking provocative our Tom Okawa clerk for federal government UK worried about Southeast inter-currency Delta gets 4.2 million pounds Eburri linked loot Also in the nation petrol subsidy labor puts unions on strike alert CBN devalues Naira to four hundred and ten point two five 110 Naira 25 cobalt to one dollar NAFEX rates adopted all must preserve Nigeria's unity says tinaboo for policemen killed in attack on end of the station and NPC Bunga packed to raise 700 million dollars cash Banks insist states must repay loans Air force to audit operations and okon. Okon J. Weller. Why Africa needs debt restructuring? Those are the stories on the nation It's all right the Guardian newspaper comes up next burden of external loans increases a CBN adopts market-led Forex rate Also Delta gets 4.2 million pounds Eburri loot cholera kills 20 in Bochi 302 hospitalized Next go with 19 vaccine supply for Nigeria uncertain NPH CDA says and we can also see on the Guardian this morning. You are wrong Governors and lawyers tackle presidency on open grazing Nigeria to earn a 322 billion Naira From NNPC Bunga PSC deal and Senate panel amends poor electricity meter distribution Despite release of 33 billion Naira Violence in southeast fueled by 2023 presidency on as it tells British High Commissioner These are the stories on the Guardian and lastly on the daily independent newspaper Governors here say talking of the proposed grazing reserves We won't seed inch of southern and Benway land Gaba show who a pit able messenger says a carriage you FG comments fueling secession agitation says a feniferee Pandev asked Buhari to retract statement Northern elders to southern governors you're building ethnic monsters Godman raised police station and will kill four cops Persistent drop in wholesale retail trading may halt slow recovery It be far IYC president abducted a mid-plant protest no bomb explosion in Eboni But tear gas and placement PPR CBN moves to unify exchange rates adopt NAFIX rate the values Naira now 410 Naira 25 Cobot sweet a dollar officially retains MPR at 11.5% And me at yellow he says we're not against open grazing band in the southeast Those are all the stories we're taking this morning. Good morning. Mr. Adi molla a king will our publisher of the podium media Good morning Thanks for joining us So there's lots of stories of seen on all the papers from the exchange rate strip proposed labor strike because of the Possible hike in fuel price to all the you know knocks the president is getting for the open grazing ban There's not so much, you know making the headlines here on the newspapers. Where would you like to start? Well, obviously let's start from the most controversial issue in Nigeria today the Sparks between the presidency and the southern governors Um, it's quite unfortunate as we always say here Presidency has lost control the president has lost control of the country Where you have a presidential head? Sitting in his coast office mappucha and challenging the decision collectively made and agreed by elected representatives of the people then you know, that's a problem. Okay Presidency on this issue is morally and position around I really do not Understand where gabashu is coming from. Okay. The laws are very clear just like the as far as I've said and for for For a presidency that knows what is doing which I like this in the Supreme Court That is where the Supreme Court is there rather issue statements that suggest that you pitch it did not Again the south and that's what's happening now It's really so unfortunate that found I said this situation. This issue has been on for quite some time It's not been well and do some of the well managed and you know crisis doesn't start overnight Okay, it's start from a tissue and it escalates into a conflict. Then if it's not what it becomes crisis I think we are really knocking on the door of a major national crisis. Okay the two Comes continue to hold tenacious tenacious to the position then we we we we we have somewhere by All right Yeah, still on this topic. I just want to you know, you to quickly speak on Is it that the presidency and gabashu and everyone in that, you know space Isn't aware of, you know, the rights that governors have to You know be chief security officers of the estates and what the land news act says Um, you know giving them the rights to protect their people and then second There's people who have said this is really not about cattle. It's mostly about land grabbing But cattle has been used as the excuse to Continue to push this narrative Yeah, the best way to answer that question is to ask a kid who is advising our president Okay on issues like this who is advising him? Okay, so you may want to say yes, they know what is right But I want to place it on record that this is the most insensitive Government we've ever had in this country. So it's sensitive. So stubborn Okay, a government that continuously does Stuff that is against the wishes of the people Cannot be seen or described as camera government that we want. So yes, the president is aware of what is right Secondly, I do not agree that this is about land grabbing It's part of the ethnicism It's part of ethnic politics that this presidency has been accused of over and over again Okay You do not see because we are from a session of the country You close your eyes to obvious infractions things that have been done If I'm not in the interest of the people you close your eyes to those things and you hold on to an argument That is morally and legally weak and and and not tenable. Okay So the presidency knows the right thing was where people think that they have the power And this is pure executive arrogance and recklessness. I mean there's no other name for it Okay, if the governors are taking a decision There is an attorney general of petition who should advise the president, but he is not even Happy matters. Okay. I would have expected the president to say, okay. What does the constitution say? Do we go to supreme court to interpret the constitution because where there is a face of where there is a dispute That's why the supreme court is there So it is not a business. You know what it's right. They know what it's right But the job to leave The I mean the the hold executive powers and they can do whatever they want. Okay, so Yeah, yes, um There's a lot we can still talk about this, you know Conversations regarding or pushing for devolution of powers now southern governors are sticking to stand But the federal government is trying to counter that there's a lot right But because of time let's quickly move to another story on the punch in his paper And we've seen on other papers as well It says federal governments delta differ on 4.2 million pounds ibori loot payments and we're seeing here that The minister the One of the ministers in the country said first of all malami said that Delta states would not get any part of the ibori loot Even though the money was taken from delta state Saying that delta state government was not captured in the agreement, you know to return the money But we're seeing here from another source that the money has been returned to delta state But delta state government said the money has not been paid to them So there's just lots of confusion here regarding the ibori loot, you know, where should the money go to who should receive it? Yeah, well The question which you ask ourselves is is it so difficult to trace where this money is? The uk government has turned the money and is it so difficult for someone to tell us exactly If the federal government is saying this money has returned to delta state and delta is saying no, we haven't seen it It just shows how serious our leaders are because these are issues of plain black white Someone should have records. This money is not spirit. There are records or there should be records Okay, and leave that and talk about the morality of the usually involved there This same data state government said ibori never stole And for those who have said oh that one should not go back to delta state government. That's the argument they're holding on to So suddenly the money came in and delta state government is interested in having the money And people already say if this argument is coming up Less than one week after the money was stung. Are we sure this for this loot has stopped being looted? Which which which is very not. I mean it's not unlikely in Nigeria. Okay, so when you hear stuff like this You you you feel so sad that why do we find it difficult to manage simplest of issues the simplest Okay, federal government say money has paid isn't there a letter isn't there a voucher isn't there a document somewhere showing it And that's a data state is saying no, I mean can't the federal government show evidence that the money has been returned So we waste too much pressure time discussing issues that should not even come up for discussion at all And it's part of the issues we have in governance. We are not transparent We are too opaque in the way we run a fierce nature. That's why all the city are going come up all the time Yeah, let's move to the um still on the punch. It says here the manufacturer's association of Nigeria saying petro prize hike is inevitable And of course demanding transparency We've uh, I think Ellen the week spoken about 385 nair which was mentioned as a likely You know price of petrol, you know when the government completely hands off subsidy and You know deregulates So quickly speak on that also Should injurians be expecting to buy petrol, you know as expensive as that and is there also A positive side to it like our guest Ellen the week had mentioned It wouldn't get there and of course when there's full deregulation There's going to be competition in the market and there's uh, you know petro prize can drop as low as 100 nair later I think Nigeria should be prepared to even pay. I had that simply because you can't control what it doesn't produce Okay The headline in the point is a pity. The CPN did not follow to error. I would rather go with the Edvine Academy The CPN are simply walking up to the reality of a market driven as check rates Okay, the strength of the nation's currency is determined by its productive capability The more you export and hand foreign exchange the more you reduce pressure on your own currency Whereas it's not happening. You cannot fix extinct rates It cannot be decreed. Okay. So as extinct it goes up Unfortunately for us. We are not processing approved. Okay. We're processing approved. We are bringing in They're going to use dollars to pay for this crude So invariably we're going to end up paying more in terms of saying they are benefit inherent in food deregulation Yes, that is in a country where there's transparency. You and I know the Controversy surrounding subsidy We are not transparent and where we're not transparent the benefit of economic deregulation would never come to us Because that benefit will go into the pocket of a few people who are well positioned the rent seekers Who are always taking advantage of the economy. So I do not see any benefit coming to us Benefit would have come to us But why are we not thinking a long-term view of fixing these refineries once and for all? In seven or eight years of this government nothing has been done Except to say you want to spend one to five billion dollars to repair the refineries How much do we need to build a new refinery? So that's I'm saying the benefit will not be there So quite frankly we should be prepared to pay higher prices for fuel because now fuel is being imported We're not we're not processing. It's very important and extinguished is going up. So it's simple economics It's simple on as indigo is also in the news saying the crisis in the Southeast is fueled by the 2023 presidency Manali and the and the one who spoke about these unknown gunmen And continued attacks on police institutions and ionic offices in the southeast Well, and as it believes is because of the 2023 presidency. Do you agree? Absolutely. Absolutely. There's nothing like a non-government I mean It's a word that we coin out of frustration out of the fact that we've lost Confidence in the security forces. What's the deal for non-government? These people can be traced. Okay You for everything that politicians do they have election at as the end came So all of these crises the instability kidnapping you cannot completely rule out The battle for 23 theory Positions will always take place. They're not interested in the economy. You are not talking about Extinguishable Positions are talking about election. That is the only thing they know about So yes, of course, I agree that this is about 23 theory Create as much in security as possible and weaken whatever security apparatus we have check control Even if illegally Of the informal reins of government and that is what we're looking at Security has broken that in Nigeria. I said it two weeks ago that we have become our own security Okay, you can't trust the police. You can't trust the army. You can't trust anybody And some people even saying that don't even talk of election if things continue like this How will you conduct elections? We're kidnapping So the election in 23 theory may be not just the most rate. It may be The the the worst election in the issue of in terms of people being disenfranchised You will not go out to vote if you are not sure that you will come back alive indeed All right And I am not there So another story, uh, quickly on the punch in the newspaper says NDLA plans drop test for politicians and admissions seekers So we see that the chairman of uh, you know the NDLA Brigadier general bubba mawai retired is saying that politicians need to do drop tests to make sure that, you know Uh, uh national security governance and you know people in that space are doing it with a clear head Do you support this motion? it's it's it's um It's just been simplistic Okay, these guys know what they're doing. They're not on drugs It is their insatiable grief for power and influence. It's got they're not they're not high on cocaine or whatever Okay, mawai will focus more on those who are bringing the drugs in. That's why the problem is Nigeria is it's not it's not really a consuming nation Okay Those who who pay the drugs in nature they do it for the money So I think politicians know what they're doing. I don't think they do what they're doing because they're high Substance abuse. No, it's all about grief. It's all about avarice. It's all about power and influence. That's all That's all so I that's been simplistic really. Well, I don't I don't think uh, mawai is you know, um, expecting that politicians are acting out of uh, um, what drug use, um, I think they're just trying to spread, you know the NDLEA's wings to Capture more people, you know, but I agree with you. It's simplistic and it's very unnecessary, you know having to test Admission seekers for drugs makes, you know No sense Unless it's able to convince a critical study that suggests that more politicians or more students are not involved in the use of Narcotics, I mean you you must be able to pack your decision up with a static. I mean with a static analysis That we convince us otherwise we are going to dissipate energy time and resources running in in the wrong direction By the way, you know, a lot of people who are going to use drugs, you know We'll use them in university not before they get into university. You can't be right in jamb Anyway, let's quickly look at this one of the nation newspaper We know about the sad incident of friday mid-twenty first when you know, that's plain crash I know Happened in kaduna state and there's lots of you know Investigation going on and air force here is saying they're going to begin to audit the operations Um, what do you think about this? Um I would say it's A bit too late Okay, but still we welcome it All right Something must be wrong with the aircraft Okay, something must be wrong one two three something must be wrong And if it takes the loss of life for us to audit It it it it goes to show how how careless we are we need to be proactive Okay, you don't have to wait until plain crash before you audit Uh, the the air poisonous of this aircraft. It's a work on development. But would that bring back loss source? No, it won't It's what I would say. Yes The audit will help us to actually asserting Okay, the air worthiness of this aircraft and I believe that the AIB is is also Investigated even though it says that in matters like this it influences limited The military would do it things in some way, but I sincerely pray that AIB which is accident and Investigations rule would be able to work with military authorities to get it root of this great or not Was it whether was his pilot error? Was it that the aircraft was not good? We need to know. So yes, the audit is welcome. But it would Be a work on development if we are not proactive next time That's them rather All right. There's also expectations the nph cda Says the next vaccines one of the papers actually says august and then the other paper says They're not sure, you know when then the next one will be arriving Um, a lot of Nigerians, of course, still have not been vaccinated Actually, just a minute percentage of Nigerians having vaccinated So tell us about, you know, what it is like over there where you are How I was vaccination going over there and then you know compare that with our situation here in Nigeria Okay. Okay. Yeah in the united states, um, the country is about reaching what we call a head immunity Wherever a substantial percentage of the population will have been fascinated Um As last week, I think over 80 percent of the adult population have gotten the full doses of their vaccination We've always known that Nigeria will run into this shortage crisis because half initial we didn't have enough Okay, we didn't have enough and without this Nigeria, I don't know how those vaccines were allocated I don't know if those who really need the vaccines ended up get those vaccines so We knew that we didn't have enough right from the one we knew that what we had wasn't going to um, take care of our needs 120 million people I don't think we got up to even 15 percent of that so Elsewhere there's tremendous improvement in person in euro there's so much progress because they have these vaccines Okay, and don't forget that some Nigerians say don't believe that there is COVID-19 So that cultural resistance is also going to affect our ability to attain head immunity A lot of people do As I last week spoke some people they were telling me that there's no COVID-19 and said good luck to you Okay, so we we we knew right from the one that The allocation we got would not go around But wait until august and this is may june july august What happens with you now and then Well, let's say how it goes. Um, I think we you know, you know also say that we're lucky You know that we also don't have the numbers that some other countries have either because we haven't tested enough Or because somehow so we've just been you know, lucky with managing COVID-19. Yeah, I didn't like him Well, I think very lucky at the typical Nigerian immunity, yeah natural immunity Thank you very much for your time this morning. Thanks for joining us. Thank you, my brother. Thank you so much All right Stay with us Today in history may 26 2020 and I'm going back to the end 2004 We'll be sharing with you some events that took place on this day. Stay with us