 Welcome once again to the breakfast on plus TV Africa now Let's go to off the press and have a quick review of the major stories making headlines across Nigeria today I'll start with the punch newspapers and of course we'll be introducing our guests right after this The big one on your screen should be in a few seconds. Yes. It says that Jaga would tell me groups others a team up against APC PDP An unveil party on October 1st PRP ADC LP to form new close of new mega party plan convention also 95 associations seek registration as political parties and more to emerge On as a demands can was released IPOP threatens 30 days shot down 2023 Southern presidency sacrosanct a fenifera backs Governors Ogum pension as ground secretary at lockout SSG protesting 68 billion our gratuity arrears And also pregnant woman and two others kidnapped in Ogum forest during prayer have doctors demand 30 million Naira Also in the punch L5 masquerading as leader exporting banditry to south says Akira do loo And we can also find on the punch daily fuel consumption jumps to 72 million liters subsidy hits 541.66 billion Naira PDP zones national chairman slot to southwest North get secretary and also I'm conceses ex-governor Ahmed's houses freezes accounts over 5 billion Naira debt Finally Nigerian 39 others may not attain pre-covid 19 GDP levels by 2026 Those are the big stories on the Poncho also of course cooking gas marketers lack facilities say LNG and of course the price hits 7,000 Naira On the leadership newspaper on the sideline of the UN General Assembly FG pushes for recovery of two billion pounds looted funds says 700 million dollars recovery made in four years and 200 million pounds stock in the US You insist on prosecution of surrendered terrorists with 285 case files in court Gandujep Mons as Gaia Emya dies at 91 APC postponed states congresses Suspending PDP as zoning committee sits today FCDA spends 412 million Naira monthly to evacuate waste flood ravages Abuja Senate Urquist 13 points 9 8 trillion Naira 2022 budget projection approves 57 dollar per barrel oil benchmark 410 Naira to a dollar exchange rate passes 2022 to 2024 medium-term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy paper Anti-open grades and law your attack on us Divisious Southern Governors tell a ruffi. I think those are ones that they can look at on the leadership newspaper today Daily independent coming next it says here PDP leadership crisis Secundice vows to fight on refuses to withdraw court case also Senate okay is 13.98 trillion Naira for 2022 budget approves 57 dollars per barrel oil benchmark and 410 Naira to the dollar exchange rate senator blames of us enjoy yardo and Jonathan for Nigeria's debt burden And 10 new national parks to boost biodiversity to come as comments soon Also on the daily independent Prosecution of Bukoram sponsors to commence soon says Malami and reps decry state of federal roads say they are death traps Government attack checkpoint kill two police officers in Inugu FEC ok is a 1.04 billion Naira cost of Variation for health water resources ministries and also IPOB vows to lock down southeast for one month if can is not arraigned Finally on the daily independent I'm con I'm con ceases from acquire a governor's mansion over five billion our debt Okay, let's take a final look at this newspaper here the nation and it says zoning PDP north leaders take formula before panel Will stick to 2017 distribution of offices or Guanyi panel made to party chiefs in Enugu Nigeria pushing to recover two billion pounds loot 285 terror cases ongoing 2.3 billion Naira cocaine seized at airports in Abuja and the LA arrest suspect Maki nominates five as commissioners five billion Naira debt. I'm context over ex-governors mansion APC shift states congresses Shagu Oni picks PDP governorship forms That route threatened federal government's 8.36 trillion Naira 2022 revenue target Malami says there was six supreme court decision Subsidies scam how firm defrauded government of 1.4 billion Naira, Bawa tells court I think those are the stories are taking a look at this morning Good morning, so I guess public affairs analyst Mr. Ezekiel in it. I talk Morning always a pleasure to be on plus TV Africa. Fantastic. A lot of stories here on the papers. Where would you like to start? Definitely definitely it has to do with the make a party arrangement and We could spend the whole time on it. Not just the story But the the the motive behind the story. I was listening to your analysis on doctors and they know the trending stories and everything and how people are living this country and There are many of us that can afford we really by the grace of God can afford to live anywhere in the world But when you sit back and think of it and know that for people like myself Where we are because this country provided a platform when we're younger now when we leave What we're saying is that the younger ones you take care of yourself because Over 99.9% of Nigerians cannot afford the laws we are traveling out Because of our poverty rate and everything So I think it behoves all women and men of conscience to think again that you can afford does not mean that is a Best thing for you to set out or to jet out. I Can understand I can feel the frustration. I run a company. I've never held any public office I've been a private sector person all my life I had to pay my fees in school and the company I registered in school Over about 40 years ago is the company that I'm still working with till today And I find it really frustrating The way that you cannot get funds to do anything the way that in security has just come you can't do any Analysis that makes sense for you to project your company and as a result It seems a shorter route for you to just shut down everything you have Bought the next flight and in my own case my three children are graduated So it's just my wife and I so it's so much easier to jet out But the question is is that the most Conscientious thing to do at this stage of my life and the answer says no, okay? I took I wanted us to now take the stories one after the other first of all I'm corn has seized the property the mansion of For my choir state governor over five billion era debt and it's on the daily independence a story is also on the punch These paper it says am con seizes government governor amidst houses freezes account over five billion era debt Now he responded to this say the seizure of his house is unnecessary So looking at this and the fact that am con has been on a debt recovery drive for a while now Trying to get this you know properties and for people who have who have owed the government So what do you think do you think that? You know this is a step in the right direction the seizure of these properties because they have failed to pay their debts And why exactly these debts in the first place? You owe you pay I mean there's nothing to analyze in that When you go to rebound to borrow money you borrowed knowing that there are consequences The only thing is that if for instance you borrowed against a project Maybe government projects like I was discussing with a friend last night And it so happens that that government is not paying you've done your part of the bad game What you do is write that and the bank immediately and tell them that on account of these are that I'm not able to Get my payment out and I would please wish that you stop the interest This particular guy last night that we're discussing borrowed about 60 million from the bank And he did a government job. He completed and before he was paid the money in the bank had gone to over 400 million and then luckily he got a good advice from illegal practitioner and Somewhere along the line he had written the bank and showed evidence that he had done the work But government was owing him so when they eventually went to court the court was able to ask that the interest Terminated at the time that he wrote the letter so long as he had provided the evidence that he was being owed that when you lend money to A company it's like a transaction. You make profit and you make losses, you know, sometimes you win sometimes you lose so what if if the governor for instance believes that number one that he had that That asset legitimately because that's another story as a governor How much you have how come you have such a what what were you before you became a governor and That's another story probably for ICPC and maybe not EFCC I don't know and then if that be the case then what he has to do is to know that Banks lend from public funds from people's deposit and as a result He owes them that duty of care. I've got into that problem once or twice So you need to know you've got to pay but you need to be able to back game your kids So you can't tell I'm coming they can't come rather you can show them cause that either you are making efforts to repay or your sources of revenue on account of Which the money was you know advanced in the first place was Is not from your side. So whichever way you borrow you pay. That's that's the Good thing, you know, we're gonna move from the story to the next one And the good one of the you know links between these two stories that the person we're speaking about whose Properties being seized is one of those who has started this new political movement with Professor Pato told me and A few about a hero Jagger for my neck chairman and a few others So let's not talk about the idea of a third force, you know, and this new party that has been, you know Berthet here it seems to happen every four years. Where do you see this going? Well, the first thing is that I want to tell Nigerians that it started over two years ago I say that because I can say authoritatively. I'm the head of organization in the national consultative front I'm also in the major committee and also in the steering committee for the past two years We've traversed and nooks and crannies of this country because we say we can no longer just wait and be taken by surprise so what is coming up now is not an ad hoc stuff and What happened the two days back which is in the news all over is Not exactly rightly reported, but let me not dispel that yes There is a coalition of different interests different levels I belong to a problem about two or three different people doing things and eventually we are going to come together Dovetail into a vehicle of women and men of conscience where we are going to say look Let's form a national emergency rescue team. This is there are a lot of good people in a PC There are a lot of good people in PDP so painting everybody with same brush. It's not okay But the principles the operational dynamics and principles of a PC and PDP is strictly Enterpreneur. It's an enterprise. It is not it's not about governance and we cannot continue That's why we've become the poverty capital of the world to them politics is about means to You know, it's an investment of sort and they look at it from that perspective and not about providing service if you look at the chapter 2 section 14 subsection to be of the national Constitution Nigerian country says that the security and welfare of the people Shall be the primary purpose of governments. That's not their guiding principles It's about your loyalty and retaining your position and making milking the system is your primary purpose For getting into government and you can blame them. That's why they are selling their house They sell their conscience to buy us out and we are waking up to tell Nigerians. You can have an alternative even on the first of October that they are talking about announcing a mega party. It's not going to be announcing a mega party I can say that authoritatively on the first of October. There's going to be the second second national Rescue summit that means we've had one before You know, this is going to be the second national rescue summit and in that summit Cross-bored across Nigeria leaders of conscience men and women the youths everybody is coming going to come out and Give their expression of the next, you know steps And I think that is something that Nigerians should look out for a lot is going on It could seem like two years is a short time in politics But I can tell you that in politics when the foundations have been right a month can make the strategic difference But Nigerians are already positioned to make that change we can't run away. Okay, so it's still on that political conversation When we take a look at the nation newspaper the headline there on that nation says zoning PDP north leaders take formula before panel Now they had an agreement on Tuesday night and what they've come up with is to agree that they're going to zone You know this political arrangement to the south and also when we take a look at this next paper It's the punch. It also says that 2023 Southern Presidency sacrosanct Affinity backs government governors. So the PDP leadership Seems to want to take the side and lean towards the south A friend of her is also back in the presidency For the south, but there's also that northern coalition the opposition that says that, you know The next president of Nigeria should also come from the northern part of the country So where do you weigh in regarding this zoning conflict? We we my position is relatively and I talk as an individual not as representing an institution I've come to realize that the leadership recruitment process should go beyond north and south If you carry an incompetent pilot, I'm putting the cockpit that a craft is guaranteed to crash I know that there are competent people in every state of the federation not just geopolitical zone Not just north south. They are competent people But our leadership recruitment process has not been able to throw up the best And I want to tell you as an individual that PDP APC any of these people if they give me half current from the south And then one small party or a third force gives me an extremely competent person from the north I want this country to be properly driven. I want to be properly piloted or you know Governed to that extent. I think we should pay more emphasis On the quality of person and not from the where the person comes from Because at the end of the day Nigeria is run by the person called mr. Buhari Whether it's from the north or from the south those are not the idiosyncrasies It's about who he is as a person And then the conversations you start to feel, you know center around the qualities the threesies character competence capability Those are the things we should start driving until My ebo oriental brethren you have these tasks Parade them bring them out As you're pleading for people to I don't want to use the word pleading as you're making a case for your section of the country Make that case based on the fact that you can profile one two three people Let it be what works per person And not just the sentiment of my people my people my people You know, even from my state people are starting to say, please, please, please want to know who is the best person Right now whether you come from the south you come from the north is Inconsequential And I think that the north has competent people the south has competent people Let these people start to parade their stars So that Nigerians at the end of the day is not anybody that is going to vote They can do their zoning and zone to wherever they want If another party brings up an extremely competent person, which is what we are doing right now You know in what you may call the third force We are zoning it to competence. We are zoning it to capacity We are zoning to capability and above all we are bringing Nigerians. There's this, you know, presidential What they call the Nigeria CEO project that's what we want to do and we are opening up the space for Nigerians All across board to give us nominations on who the thing will be the most suitable person And after that we are going to go into a voting process extremely transparent So that there's going to be a conversation shifting from a pcbb to competence to character to capacity to capability And then when we continue to do those votings and eliminating Conversations will start to zero in on the qualities of the persons their characters They are, you know, what they've been able to achieve in the past And when we come down to about 18 and move them into what we call the Nigeria project house We're going to have a leadership recruitment process that at the whole world Is going to say go and look at what is going in Nigeria and the conversation will shift from pdp apc To who is the most competent and by the time that we're able to bring up that person Let PDP bring up any person let apc bring up any person They are going to provide propose them before Nigerians Nigerians will take the decision and I can tell you this for free That decision is going to go by way of who is going to be the best person to take us out of this Very infamous tag of being the poverty capital of the world And I'm happy that plus TV Africa is one of our great major partners in this drive And I want to thank you for it. All right messiah talk, you know still on this, you know conversation Um Yes, you know, it might sound really really interesting and you know, like the right way to go Um competence instead of a tribe or religion or region But you know, I think it's also important, you know that we you know look at the facts that You know the timing might be a little short. I know you've already mentioned that you know two years You know one month, you know as long as you get it right, you know people would always Move in that direction, which is you know from your perspective But the political structures that these other two major political parties have have run for, you know, more than 20 years now um How do you think that Nigerians? Besides those who you can reach out to online and the ones who you can ask these questions and streamline, you know the Candidates, you know until you get to that one person Um, how do you think that, you know, this can be sold to 200 million people in the time that we have I'm sure you are also aware That there's still a challenge with getting as many people registered or even interested in the voting process There's many of these concerns How do you think all of this can work if INEC is not able to register that many people? If we're not able to if Nigeria is not able to get many many many more young people Registered to vote between now and 2023 How do you think that it's possible? That whoever it is that your your candidate is will, you know become relevant in enough time before 2023 Absolutely valid question. Absolutely. So like I said for the past In the immediate past six months We've had all manner of think tanks right now. I'm in Abuja I came in yesterday strictly for one meeting and as soon as I finished with you I'm on my way back to the airport go back to base in Uyo. Why am I saying that? look at Present realities look at big brother What structures does it have? it gets 60 million 20 million votes people to vote What you need to do is drive a process that appeals to the young people We've sat down. We thought about it and that process commences October 1 That's what I'm saying that what you've been hearing like mega party put forward is really not going to be a mega party stuff It's a process that's going to start that we've been working all the 18 parties minus two We've talked to all of them. I'm a member of that committee. So that party formation is there. There's already that coalition There's already that understanding. We're just crossing the teas and dotting the eyes So we're in a hurry to shout out. So that is already there then secondly You will be the major driver of what you're doing The reason is that when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel all the media houses Within one month can cause a level of awareness and enlightenment that is unprecedented in this country When the man in the village gets to see that for once We're having let me even just make it a little shorter Are you aware that we had less than 35 percent of registered voters voting? The reason is usually two one is that they are choosing between the rock and the hard place Second is that they are not even sure that their vote will count. So how do we address these two? number one in terms of vote we are having the this second this second National summit is a consensus building around one topic electronic transmission of results We want i-nec to know that Nigeria is completely behind them and the quality of people that you're going to be speaking You will be impressed yourself. So we're going to have quality electoral process And the chairman of i-nec has already said before he made such a statement openly He stopped through and he said we without Biometric identification there will be no voting It's such a powerful statement that he made and before he made that statement There's a reason why the senate refused to call him to come and testify on the floor because he's made of his mind And i want to show that he's not alone Nigerians are behind him So number one there's going to be proper voting where you can vote will count and secondly We're going to bring through the people bring out quality candidates That Nigeria will be excited about so within these two parameters about this and Within the voting process we are raising the money It's going to be warehouse like one of the biggest audit firms in this country because of integrity It's going to use blockchain technology. We've been on need to build confidence in Nigerians You can't give what you don't have all those color-color things people are appearing overnight No, Nigerians will see the processes evolving and with each step there'll be confidence building at the end of the day We would have started a process of really rescuing Nigeria and i'm very excited to be part of this Okay, so I want us to now begin to talk money. There are lots of money topics on the papers this morning One of them that we've seen I think this is having a headline on one of the papers And it's on the leadership newspaper the leadership says fg pushes for recovery of two billion pounds looted funds And it says that this is a statement by attorney general of the federation and minister of justice Abu Bakr Malami. He says that in four years and the federal government has recovered 700 million dollars and he says 200 million pounds is stock in the u.s And um taking a closer look at this story. Malami is basically saying that There's like lots of looted funds Nigerian politicians Nigerian businessmen who have siphoned money meant for the general public And you know taking that stashing it in several so many other countries and they're in talks with Countries like the uk to make sure that they're still in funds are repatriated I'm to the tune of two billion dollars and when we convert that to naira. It's about one point one two Trillion naira that has been taken out of the country and miss any a talk. We keep talking about blocking leakages and That even when we're able to block these leakages the funds that have been stolen out of the country And are repatriated. What exactly are we using them for this continue to be a subject of debate miss? Any a talk so can we go back to the first conversation about how to prevent? politicians and businessmen from taking money meant for Nigerians out of the country for their own personal benefit You know, it's like we carry a lovely piece of yarn and we leave you with the goat to take care of it And then we come back and we are so short that the goat has eaten the yarn I ask where is the problem with the goat or with the person who gave yarn goat yarn to keep You and I know how these people Sell their their soul to get into office Why do they get into office? It's a very simple straightforward question They get into office To to milk the system. Let me just put it well Almost everybody 99 98 95 percent of the people Service has absolutely nothing to do. That's why they say politics. They do or die When did you when largely find people fighting on the street? To wash your clothes for you to work for you to serve you No, they don't so when you see somebody fighting on the street To serve you it's just common sense calder now doing that So it's to that extent that we keep hearing. Let me hear we hear of Looted funds repatriated We hear of borrowing And then what do we not see? What these funds where they are applied? We do not see them in the infrastructure At the level at a commensurate level We do not see it on our Human capital development to a commensurate level Let me tell you very easily Any person that's a leader that things should know that it is the world the future talking about the fourth revolution Our children are so gifted That in the crypto coins currency that you say we are like the second highest in the world Our children are so gifted that in 419 and advanced fee fraud we have away now Can a leader not realize that this is a gift that is misplaced and on account of that instead of setting up a system to catch the thief you set up a robust system to tweak this thing to use it properly tweak this skill that we have Make sure that every young person has a laptop every t-shirt institution student has a laptop Programming is put in the laptop. Then you build an ecosystem that can isolate the scammers These people As much as I do not want to justify what they are doing You must agree with me that our young people must survive So let's have a governance system that thinks of them that harvests their potentials in the right direction Instead of calling them lazy youth and tagging them with all sorts of things and now they become rebellious It's like you go to hell And it's not good enough for us because the leaders are stealing the money The youth you tell them to behave and how are they going to become something? When there is nothing that leads them that guides them that directs them in the right direction How many role models do we have how many of the people I tell my governor when you go for a meeting The people that sit at the high table are the commissioners the Chairman the these the that I don't see the best graduating students sitting on the high table I don't see the entrepreneur that is doing very well sitting on the high table I don't see that teacher that is the best teacher sitting on the high table to form an inspiration to the younger ones to know that excellence pays what they see is that politics pays and politics within this context is not that of service But that of a young person who was a street stout and now he's an s a p a and you go look at the house He's leaving. We're just confusing our young people and we can't continue this way. We can't Um talking morning our theft and let's move to the southeast where another crisis is very likely brewing um, it says on the Pontius morning or haneza demands Cano's release and also ipob threatens 30 days shut down If he's not, of course, I reigned So let's quickly get your thoughts on on all of this I want to play. Yes. I want to play the devil's advocate. Go ahead, please. I mean northerner. I'm in power Southerners threating to shut down They are they are they are they are section of the country for 30 days and I'm like Go ahead boy Our schools are shutting the north man. Our factories are shutting the north. You guys are making money. You guys are making business So please guys make sure that canoe does not come out Make sure that they shut down so that the students will not be able to go on right here Why so that the companies will not be able to operate so that the economy of the southeast We start to suffer what we are suffering in the north That's playing the devil's advocate of a terrible Nigerian And it's a case of smiting your nose to spite your face Please come on. This guy should be a little more strategic than that Unless of course they are playing the fifth column is to make sure that canoe is never released Are they expecting that the feedback government is going to be so worried so scared? They're going to be so bothered. We're not going to go shutting down a buja that will affect them You have to go shutting down southeast How does that affect the price of Gary in their own side of the divide? I think we need to be a little more strategic in the things that we do We need to and the one problem I have with canoe is that he just does not have strategic thinkers with him And the next thing is that once they do that the average Igbo man who lives on trade on a daily basis He's going to say to help to do with this canoe. What is it? What does he want with Nigeria? Who says I want to live Nigeria? He's going to have a subtle revolt because people are starting to say and he doesn't have an alternative to feed the people You see the Boko Haram people are a little smarter Unfortunately, because they play, you know, the big brother role they play, you know, what's this guy? He's there. I can't remember again, you know That that that takes the money and this you to the people they try to see. Oh, this will give us protection Oh, this will do this to that So they're able to buy the sentiment of the people but in the south is iPop is not providing any of those things that shows the people we are for you We are behind you we are with you, you know They sold hope that if Biafra is given as a country, we will be the better for it That was the hope they sold and the currency of that hope is depreciating on a daily basis And to another extent. I want the eastern leaders Now reentered brethren to start to drive that reverse psychology Drive that reverse, you know Mindset and I want to appeal to the federal government. Please whatever it takes Know that justice runs a system. You may be winning for today. The south is they have a case. They have a point It's not it's not important. It's not it's not it's not okay that number one They have the least you know one or two states in the north have more local government than the whole of south is put together And our revenue sharing goes into local government are going to local government It's going to numbers So I think that the south is has been marginalized in many ways in the security council How can a whole region not be you know accommodated at the highest level When they are discussing the issues of the south is in the region who speaks for them Who speaks for them? What's fair is fair. Mr. President can afford to get a service chief or one of the Service chiefs or top people from the south is he can but each time such opportunity comes There's a strategic realignment and they lose out I think what's fair is fair as much as I think that what can we is doing is absolutely in my opinion, you know Tateless, I think that the ebos are the cause to say it's not okay Okay, I think I want us to finally take a look at this story It's on the punch newspaper on the top right Corner on the bottom right corner and it says ogum pensioners ground secretariat lock out ssg Protestants 68 billion nara gratuity arrears So this story really when I saw it really struck me because these are old people who carried placards Saying pay pensions to old pensioners. They basically grounded, you know the secretariat's House in the governor's office. They blocked the two entrances You know to that secretariat's for about four hours carrying placards and asking governor biordo to honor his fathers and you know pay their Pay their pensions and gratuities. They say they've been owned or jointly about 68 billion Naira, I mean, do we have to get to these points protests? Especially by the age in Nigeria who should be receiving their gratuities and enjoying their retirement Should we have to get to this level before the government does something about it? What makes it really really disheartening is that a lot of these people Were people who were in the civil service when the civil service was more sane These are people who worked and retired with nothing Because there were civil servants These are people who Served the country with their whole heart A very good example is right inside my house. My mother-in-law next year. She'll be 90 She's extremely, you know, if she didn't have people like like us I see her contemporaries when they come to the house and I whip And she would tell you, oh, this was when I was principal. This was my vice principal and you look at that person and They could be no better definition of being richer And meanwhile you go to government house every night The level of buffet the drinks every night These people cannot afford one square meal The pensioners should be first line charge if nothing else even I dare say this before those still in service And those still in service should be be the ones advocating for it There's a story that we showed on the on the on the on one of the news the tv stations When and a retiree Was making noise one of them called in and said please i'm a retiree like you please shut up and leave the station How many times did I come to your office when you were there and I talked to you and I said one day you come out and meet it And then you are going back because you've not retired if you have done what I told you to do We're with the way we are today I want to appeal to civil servants that are still in service to know that The bed you're lying they're making now is what you're going to lie on sooner than later So while governors are running riot and doing as they wish the civil servants themselves should know that that is an Inevitable concomitant. They are going to get there. So they should be the ones championing the good of the retirees That's my take on it. Okay, but for government You're not thinking all right, uh, miss isekal. Yeah, I talk. Thank you very much Um as always for your analysis and for sharing your time with us on the first this Thursday morning Thank you. Thank you. God bless you all. Thank you. All right Stay with us and we come back a little bit of history what happened on this day September 23rd many many years ago to be sharing the QP on the breakfast