 Welcome back to the breakfast in Plastivia Africa. It's time for Off the Press. As always, we bring you up to speed with what's making the rounds on the front pages of the National Dailies. Ezekiel, I talk public affairs. Analyst is on standby. He joins the conversation. Ezekiel, it's good to have you join us this beautiful first day morning. Good morning. Always a pleasure to be with you. Thanks for having me. All right, then. Let's start off with the leadership newspaper. Looking at the front page, it would be, you know, the point of call for us. Looking at the front stories this morning or caption. However, you like to put it. The bold caption here talks about, I made protests with all PDP pigs, governorship candidates, and APC aspirant phase delegates today. It's boldly written on the leadership this morning. Underneath, you have Finteri, Makin Day gets PDP reelection tickets, and Kashima, Uba. You also have Katha's Yaman, Lami Dosan, secure governorship tickets as first timers. Niger State Shifts Exercise and Plateau Awaits Result. I mean, the riders you have this morning underneath the bold headline for the leadership. Train Attack Victims, Rescue Our Loved Ones, Family Bag, President Mohamed O'Buhari in 2023, Exchange of Money, Worrisome, Yakubu, Jagga, Jagga is quoted to say, Exchange of Money, Worrisome, 2023, Yakubu and Jagga quoted on that. You also find 32 youths killed by terrorists are not farmers, says the Borno government. Obie, Ekwere Madu, Abari Bay Dump, PDP, withdrawal from presidential and governorship race. But in all of this, you have Pitau B topping the charts. I mean, it's generated a lot of conversations in different spaces. Yes, they up until this morning. Now you have presidency once again, retaliation. So Ludo wants justice for slain mother and for kids. Just before we move away from the leadership, Ban Onokada has come to stay in Ligas. The governor is quoted to say, Sung-Woo Lu, that said this morning on the leadership newspaper. But we just move away quickly from the leadership. Let's take a look at the punch newspaper. And the punch, shock is Pitau B dumps, PDP, protest, mayor, governors, primaries. This is what you find. Obie, Kwan-Kwiso, talk, collision. But you have the section of the electoral act that might just be a question, you know, where his move or ambition, however you want to put it, a Niger primary shifted. Eudes Stone, Isha Koo's convoy. Gone short at a debut to Lawyers Supporters' Clash. Disrupt Ogun PDP primaries. Open and kick as McIndy wins. A Kourimado, a Barry Bay, others withdraw. The riders you find underneath the boat caption on the punch this morning. Buhari's man, Wayne Jonathan, to join APC, associates as quoted. Naira devaluation, insecurity, drive-nodgers with import to 1.3 trillion Naira. That's very interesting. MFL's withdrawal on Buhari's order says source. Presidential bid, MFL's withdrawal on Buhari's order says source. Apparently he wouldn't withdraw if the president didn't, you know, make that statement. More like echoing what is. Stella Odua Absconded did not complete national service. That's the NYSE quoted on all of that and food prize recorded. 42% surge in 12 months according to report from the NBS. And you also have cash-trap banks borrow 338 billion Naira in one month. Away from that, rescue train passengers before terrorists kill them. Families beg presidents Muhammad of Buhari. And you will find why consensus may not work for presidential primaries. The APC chairman is quoted to say. Soludo declares Khafu women, children killed by gunmen buried. Very sad. And a lot's happening in the world if you ask me. We took oath over all AU students' death. Wow. You have the hotel receptionist quoted to say. Family cries out as AFCC fails to interrogate or coerce 24 hours after. Well, these are the stories you find this morning on the punch newspaper. But we'll just run quickly to check out the Daily Independent. Accusation of hijack greets PDP governorship primaries. A baron bay. A quarry module. Luke. Albert. Others boycott exercise. Finty remarking day. Ubar and Nair. Kashimar. Others pick ticket. These are the writers underneath. PDP quest to acerock at Rix. Orhanese lament incessant killings in the southeast. Saludo declares Khafu and bans motorcycles and cacare shuttle bosses. Viral video of killings in southeast may not be factual. That's what the president's quoted to say. You have more interesting headlines on the Daily Independence for the want of time. We'll just move away. And we'll quickly look at the nation newspaper this morning. Outgoing governors. Men pick PDP tickets in state. Totally written. And you find why we took ought to cover up OAU student's debt. 14 victims of war new killings tied in shorted close range. What's going on? Well, this is how far we can go on the nation newspaper this morning. We quickly turn our attention to Izi Konya. I took a public affairs analyst who was joining us via Zoom this morning to share his thoughts on the headlines. Making the rounds on the front pages. Izi Konya, I took is good to have you join us this morning. Thank you. Like I've always said, I feel honored to be on your program. Thanks for having me. All right. So let's get straight to it now. On the punch newspaper, you have shock as Peter OB dumps the PDP and protests. You have also have protest ma, you know, the governorship primaries. What are your thoughts? His resignation and leaving the People's Democratic Party has gotten a lot of people talking. A lot of persons are really angry, disappointed, frustrated. What do you make of this? Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's actually on a rather sober mode this morning because I don't know to what extent we are able to draw the line between politics and governance. And I don't know to what extent we have been able to see the end of these stories at the end of the day. Why I say so is that when you look at what is happening in the different parties with respect to the primaries, and you see what's going on and the reason that Peter OB has given for leaving the PDP, I am worried, I'm really worried because it affects. It's what I've come to see. It's a reality that stays us in the face. And the line between who can win a election and who can run the state. Are so much miles apart that the conversation is on who can win a election. But we fail to realize that that's not the essence. To what extent do we come to let people know that the primary objective of all we are trying to do now is how we can steer the ship of state in such a way that we exit from that ignoble tag of the poverty capital of the world with all its prognosticates. Poverty, hardship, death, pain. We are not able to draw the line between the two. And it bothers me. It really bothers me. The conversation today is on who can win, who has the word chest. And incidentally, not long ago, some two days back to be specific. One of the parties, which is a party I belong to, the AGC, actually did something that is unprecedented. They took two hours on national network and plus TV was one of those that was there. And they put across the 12 people that want to be, you know, presidents on the party ticket. And they say, talk to Nigerians. Let Nigerians hear you. Let Nigerians feel you. They took two hours of live coverage for all of them to talk to Nigerians, to make a pitch to Nigerians. Before ever the primaries, this is saying we need, when we arrive at who the candidate of the party should be, Nigerians should be able to say, yes, I can relate to that. I heard him. I listened to him. That made sense. Secondly, those that had the money to make themselves known did not have an unfair advantage over those that could probably have something to say, but did not have the money to display. So the party gave them that platform where they talk to the whole world on who they are, what they are, what they want to do. And I think that the media, I come back again, we need to start to reorientate the minds of Nigerians on what to look out for. All this issue of rushing to collect money, collect money, collect money. We are mortgaging our future. And to what extent do they know this? And it bothers me. I really want to, you know, I thank plus TV for creating a platform like this where we can discuss these issues. But I think that the conversation needs to go further on who has the capacity, the competencies. You see, Peter O'Bee's exit is very instructive. It's very, very instructive. The man has money. He does have money. It's been a billionaire all his life for God for as long as I can remember him. But he says, look, let's not play this money game. It's an evil win that will blow no one no good. Let us start to profile people on what they have between their ears and not the often or ill-gotten wealth. He can even explain his wealth, you know. But a lot of these people throwing money around. Some of them probably lived next door to him. So Ezeko, you know who they were. Ezeko, are you saying that Peter O'Bee suddenly woke up and decided that he doesn't want to become part of all of this that's going on? Is that what you're saying? That he woke up and realized that, you know, there was no need to be part of this entire process. Like he rightly mentioned, I mean, there's all the, there would be another route or, you know, way to go about being part of democracy and contributing to nation building. Are you saying that he just woke up and all of a sudden realized that, no, I'm in the wrong both. I took a wrong decision. Is that what you're saying? You know, you see, there's been conversations going on for over two years. I've been in the middle of all these things. You know, I said something and you see, maybe my father saw something when he gave me the name Ezekiel. I said something and he would go back to play some of the very old tapes. I said, I said, there is a change coming. But it's slow in coming, but it's definite. It's going to hit the mark right on time. The first thing that happened, I'll tell you this, was Kwankwa so left PDP. There was a statement. He said, we're very good friends. A small fact on my birthday, he actually came and spent three days with me. We sat down, we discussed and everything. And, you know, these people are politically, you know, very, very savvy. They read the pendulum much better and faster than many people. As long as I am in PDP, my capacity will not be appreciated. And I can be treated anyhow, any day, any time. So I'm going to step out. He did that. Now, my brother, Peter, will be who happens to be a friend as well. He's been looking, talking, discussing, negotiating, making himself known to Nigerians. And he knew he had an option. And he was just waiting for the fullness of time. But hoping that PDP will, over this period, wake up and smell the coffee. That they will realize what had happened to them when they lost in 2015. They would realize what the dynamics were. And will come off that impunity of we can. It doesn't matter. It matters. Five governors left you, you said it doesn't matter. It matters. So when he was going and talking, he used the platform to make himself known to Nigerians. And Nigerians really kind of went with him. And he drove it to the last point. You know, somebody says you can bend the law, but just don't break it. He got it to the last point. And today, I can tell you that he has bent the law without breaking it. He's going to be a very powerful force somewhere else. But how can this thing be, Ezeka? The APC, you know, leaving, no, before APC, there is the electoral act that has been signed. We can see what is happening. I told Nigerians, if you know you are popular, you know you are loved by your people. Go and pick a form and contest. And many people are going to say, oh, Lord, I wish I'd listened to Ezeka. Why do you think I would go and pick a form to contest in a Qaibon state? If you know what's going on in the Qaibon, many people were feeling sorry for me. But all of a sudden, they're starting to give me a call. My dad, he sees that your party may not have a candidate in APC and in PDP, and they'll just leave the field for you like that. And I said, no, it's not like that. So there's still six to eight months of campaigning. Issues are going to come up. That is where there's going to be proper alignment and realignment for the election. And Nigeria will not be the same. We're going to have proper candidates. We're going to have proper people who are going to mind. Ezeka, let's quickly look at this one now. You have mentioned the fact that, I mean, he did what he had to do. He put himself out there, get the popularity. And of course, he has, you know, the chances. I really don't know. But what would you say about the section of the Electoral Act? Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022. It talks about the political party making available the register to the commission, not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party primaries. And so let's stay with INEC, the empire, saddled with the responsibility of, you know, conducting elections in the country. And so they have rightly stated that June the 3rd is or the 4th, if I'm not mistaken, you know, it's the actual date. Today we're talking about, you know, the 2016, the month of May. And so how many more days? Is he a member of any other political party? Is his name on the register? How can these things be? It's the next question. It feels like he made a great move, a decision, by moving away because he can't have his hand tied by the Electoral Act. But also, on the other hand, section, you know, 77 might just hold him accountable. I'll tell you, politicians are sharper than we know. I'm a BOT member of ABC African Democratic Congress. And in our party, we made it clear to INEC that our membership registration is continuous. We told INEC that. And you can stop us from registering our members. We told them that the registration of our members is continuous up to election day. So we keep updating. As of today, this is what we have. So now INEC has not said that that is a cutoff. No. They have said, let us have who your members are. And virtually all the parties have complied. We have complied. But we made a provision that our registration is continuous up to election day. So we can stop people from coming to be our members. So if today Peter comes to ABC, he will be properly accommodated because there is a provision that says we are continuing the registration of our members up to election day. So that is not a problem at all as far as he's concerned. The second thing is this. Go ahead. Yes, go on. No, no, no. I allow you to go ahead because we might not end this now. Go ahead. No. Okay. INEC has certain responsibilities. But those responsibilities, look, there's going to be a shocker. You know, I'm afraid if K is not taking, the decision is going to go to the court in a lot of ways because in a quite bomb state, for instance, that where I belong, we are ready for those who want to throw money on the people against throwing ideas and competencies. We have set up a team that is going to do the most extensive forensic analysis of the spendings of the parties. To start with, we don't even have the five billion to put down. So our own no big problem at all. But those who are boasting that they have 50 billion to put down, we are waiting. We are going to comb, you know, and we have people in their camps. We have people everywhere. And we are waiting for them because it is enough. We can no longer use the resources of the people to frustrate the people. It's not going to happen again. So we have set up, we have done the kind of the most extensive, I may be letting the cat out of the bag, but it doesn't matter. I don't care, you know, because you can only smell the perfume. You can't see it. And that's not, they say the feet of the avenging date, they have shot with wool. You don't see it coming. So we are ready for them. We are going to help INEC. And INEC has put certain limits and we are going to prove to the court. No, no, no. But Ezekiel, Ezekiel, Ezekiel Yaito. I was thinking that. Very, very closely. In a quiet room to start with. That's where I can talk with all my eyes, you know, open, wide open. Ezekiel Yaito, I was going to think that, I mean, I was thinking that we should let this slide. But on the other hand, I think that we should deal, I mean, let's share your thoughts on this. And let's look at it, you know, in a very logic manner. Look at what the law says. Now, and it's very okay for you to say that your party has stated what, you know, the process is for INEC. And we're talking about the electoral act here. And as much as, you know, a party would say it's okay for you to registration. It's a continuous process. And so even a day before the primaries or a day before the election proper, anyone can become a member of the party. And it's not a problem. The electoral act is very explicit. And I'm not sure that it's not written that part of the Constitution or the act. It's not written in, you know, Shakespeare English that cannot be understood, you know, commonly. It's stated that you have to put out that 30 days before the date of the primaries. The primaries, according to the data that has been fixed, and, you know, so far we've not had INEC saying that we're shifting ground, still between the 3rd and the 4th of June. And we're talking about how many more days before that time. What is then the possibility that INEC should be bending to the rules of the political party? Or there should be looking at, you know, the electoral act that talks about how these elections should be governed? I will tell you, you see, when you read, incidentally, I'm not a lawyer. So, but from my layman's knowledge, there are provisions of the law that have the spirit behind it. Okay. The spirit of that section is to ensure that there is transparency, accountability in your primaries processes, and that, like the list of delegates that must come, you cannot have any new set of delegates or use an alternate set as opposed to that which you made available to INEC. But where you have a situation of a consensus or a sole candidature, there will definitely not be a situation where anybody goes to court to contest or to contend, like in a quibrom state, because I did everything with the party and they loved me so much, they took a decision, the whole party as a whole to say, we want to have you as a sole candidate and the whole state knows about it. So, not one soul that's going to buy a ticket, do you understand me? Once they say, A, G, C, and yeah, it takes practice. So, in such a situation, nobody's going to go to court over me. All those matters come up with INEC where there is any form of litigation or a protestation or something that brings about a contestation of some sort. But without that, then you can slide. And all Peter will be needs to do is to get a platform that is willing to adopt him. So, within that context, things go a lot easier and trust me, there are many platforms that will be too eager to tell him come because PDP has already helped to do the groundwork of making him a sellable candidate. So, he's a beautiful bride anyway. And somewhere, let me say this, somewhere along the line, whether it comes to ADC or ADC produces a candidate, somewhere along the line, there's going to be an alignment of one, two, three parties that's going to get into an understanding with a man like Juan Cuantosa that has a good hold of the North. And these parties, PDP and APC will not mark my words, not win the next coming election. I can tell you this for free. They're taking Nigerians for granted. And for the first time, first time ever, we're going to have six to eight months of campaign before elections. It has never happened. And Nigerians are ready to tell them why they should not be another four to eight years of... It's eight o'clock. All right, then. Let's quickly take a look as much as we haven't been prompted. The Daily Independent, it talks about the viral video on killings in the Southeast may not be factual. This is what the presidency is quoted to say. Do you think that this might just be a problem of, you know, what exactly are we dealing with here? What is the statement? I want to appeal to everybody in the Southeast. Mr. Soludo has taken the step of going to meet Namdi Khanu. And Namdi Khanu says this is not okay. What I'm expecting going further is the federal government setting up a system, a structure. You see, people really don't know governance, how it works. A lot of times, there's no time for me to tell setting stories, but a lot of times you need to preempt things. A lot of times you need to set the agenda and not follow the agenda. For where we are today, there are things, one, two, three little things that you can do to take the wind off the sail of these killers in the Southeast. These people, we need to, the intelligence need to unravel where it is coming from and what is going on. I feel a little betrayed that the intelligence of Nigeria that always be so proud of will be maybe so proud or so afraid that there is nothing happening in Nigeria. L Rufai said it, for instance, is not easy. L Rufai said, we know these people. We know where they stay. We know who funds them. L Rufai, I mean, is not push over. When he makes such a statement, he's not flippant. He's not somebody, well, sometimes he talks, but a lot of times he is a very smart and intelligent person. And for him to come out and say, we know these people. I think that the time has come when we should listen and take proactive decisions. The Southeast issue isn't rocket science on how to get it done. If NAMDI that they said they are fighting for has come out to say, don't you think that the intelligence community should create a platform for a leaked video of a conversation of NAMDI canon. Do you understand me? Where it goes viral and let them know that these people are not NAMDI canals people or protecting their interests. There are certain things that can be done. I don't need to stay here and say these things. I think that the issue in the Southeast should not be allowed to deteriorate any further. They happen to be my in-laws and I feel pain that the industry, the trade factory is gradually getting eroded. You can't go to work on Monday, can't go to market. Now some days they say Tuesday, Wednesday, I mean they just wake up and the NAMDI is not good for the Southeast. Well, I'm sure that we just definitely leave you with that this morning. We're really out of time. Thank you so much for being part of the breakfast, of the press to be precise. We look forward to sharing more of your thoughts. Let's talk. Thank you and God bless you. Thanks for having me. Have a fantastic day. And that's the size of it this morning. On off the press we will return tomorrow to be the last for the week looking at the top stories on the front pages of the National Dailies and have you an analyst or an insight to it. We'll step on the brakes now. But when we return it will be time for us to look at that first major conversation. We'll look at the political parties, delegates and their responsibility. But just before that time out let's tell you what happened today in history. Stay with us.