 bag is still valid this Tuesday. And it's time for off the press. Chris Skendewan, the member of the Chartered Institute of Abitrators in the UK, is joining us. But from Lagos this morning. Hello, Chris. Good morning and glad to have you join us again. Thank you very much. Nice to hear. Okay, so let's go straight and start with the Punch newspaper. The Punch newspaper relates with presidential poll petitions. Military police won protesters as Tribunal delivers verdict Wednesday. The right is there. Military police vow to prevent violence, Tribunal proceedings for live telecast, court orders, workers to stay away, PDP, LP, Confident, APC promises to obey ruling. That's the big story this morning. At least one of it, this one and Labour. So let's start with this. Yes, the presidential Tribunal will finally be granted a judgment and they're good enough. The Tribunal has said that the judgment will be televised live and there is this session that has interested history to transmit it live. I think that's the first time we're having that since 1999, that's a point of interest. But it's good that this is coming because the Tribunal or courts sit here as a mandate, that's the number of days it has been stipulated to be able to get by the judgment. So they're trying to get that particular constitutional petition. And so we're going to see what is going to happen to them. The statement by the TSS, by the military, by the police, is neither here, nor there. So they are foreseeing any other things that some of us have not seen. I don't see it as a point of interest. First of all, people have thought it may take the end of this month for us to hear the judgment, but here we're going to be hearing it tomorrow. And then the live telecasts, I think this took many by surprise since they refused to broadcast the whole proceedings from the beginning. Were you surprised when you heard that it's going to be broadcast live on Wednesday? No, I wasn't. I wasn't surprised because probably the Tribunal wanted to make it as transparent as possible, and probably to the extension as well. So everybody across, if you're not just a man, you have to have us inside of it. But it's like if we are not a lawyer, at least those of us that can still use, that can still be simply to understand. So, and it's not going to be here, say, you know the Nigerian side, say what they thought, they don't say this one, they don't say, so, the nation is going to be almost, yeah, the nation is going to be almost a standstill tomorrow, otherwise. There are going to be various versions of it, from word of mouth, so it's better than, I think the court is just trying to put some level of transparency into that judgment. And so that is what it is. It requests what we initially, for the trial to be televised live by the Tribunal and our court, as it were, because we don't say that, it's not going to be true for that. So, but this is coming. So, and don't forget tomorrow, on Wednesday, it's also practically and publicly there to solve the largest entity, because the two days national strike by the NSC continue tomorrow. So, a lot of people will stick here. Matter of fact is some of the, let's take the other headlines here on the punch. Above the mat said, you have subsidy pains, labor vows to grant economy, begin strike, the rider, maritime bank vendors, CSOs, plan rally, and then FG Bex, NLC to shelf strike. You have rep someone six MDAs over FG asset sale. You also have down beneath the main headline, the beautiful picture of the light rail, which is beginning operations in Lagos state, and it leads with 40 years after Buhari suspension, Lagos light rail begins operation. And then you have foreign investors repatriated $5 billion dividend CBN. Okay, so let's go on, Chris. Yes, as I was saying, the strike begins today, and the difference between what is going on today and tomorrow is the fact that this is a one strike, so it's for two days. It is different from an indefinite strike. An indefinite strike is a strike at the end. So this one is time bound, as we say in Lagos, so it's for Tuesday and Wednesday, and all the associations that affiliates of NLC and TUC mobilize themselves to strike. One strike. But TUC, TUC is not joining them. TUC has pulled out. No, good. If TUC has pulled out, then it is NLC, but you also have to realize that some affiliates, some other affiliates, like the banks are joining the strike. So if the banks are joining the other, they are joining, but it is still what it is. But the fact remains that it's a one strike, and this is going to come in. Don't forget that this strike, there has been this notice of strike since the removal of subsidy. I think this is the third one, the third one. The first time there was supposed to be a strike, then the industrial court stopped that. The second one that was supposed to be a strike, they decided to call it a protest. They had a protest, I think it was a protest. You know, that's not to categorize the ruling of the court. Now it's a one strike. And the federal government tried to call the labor leaders to the meeting through the new Minister of Labor, La Long, but it seems that the labor has made up its mind. So I hope that within these two days, after the strike, the federal government will be able to meet and be able to iron out the various issues at stake so that we will not be able to see and get a strike. But this is a strike that I personally just don't think that NLC will be able to do that because a lot of people have practically lost weight in the NLC and it's ability to meet the labor movement to be able to challenge the government's resistance increase in threat price and other economic policies. But let's see how it goes. So today, tomorrow, there's going to be a sit-at-home by a certain union. But it can be rest assured that it's a modern economic activity. Definitely, the markets will open, the press will open. And more than 900,000 people who are into private business. So that's what it is. Of course, here Basira and their Mame maker will not allow anything to stop them from opening their shops. Yeah, but they're not going to allow. They're not going to be able to continue. Well, there are those who actually believe that labor lost the opportunity to seize the moment when they should have at the very beginning. And one is beginning to wonder the impact this one strike would have, if any. That is just the right statement you've made the best way to seize the opportunity. Because if they had, probably we would not have had the second increase before price. That would have stopped that first price increase. Yes, that was withdrawal of subsidy as announced by the president and that is in operation last June tonight. I will show you that that withdrawal was supposed to take effect at the end of June. Now with the announcement of the president, then it took effect from me. And so labor could have come in and say, no, this has been, yes, this has been documented and this supposed to start at the end of June. So you cannot subject Nigerians. So since this has been made on the petroleum product in June, not me. And that is where I talked about how that started and that insisted on that. And I believe that government would have taken to a large subsidy to run to the end within that period of negotiation would have come up on the proper pricing. Definitely, definitely not minding the fact that it's a subsidy. But they lost the opportunity and that was the first increase. The problem we had deceived and they fell into the trap of the government and finally they won some, some days or weeks. That was under increase. So the government caught them on a way as people were not proactive. So let's look what the level of impact is going to what is going to be the impact of this. Because don't forget that there's a committee that was set up by the federal government headed by the chief of staff with the president. And that is where the problem is. And that committee has not been meted. And if that committee is not meted, then what are we talking about? The committee have talking about roadblocks of palliatives, giving five billion to each state, releasing off grains and the rest of them. How has that been able to impact on the life of Nigeria? Those are the issues. And I think that the labor should be talking about. Yeah. And the minister of labor, you know, Simon Lalong called for calm and patience from labor saying that they need time to sort things out. Of course, another school of thought is also saying that labor should come down because the federal government is already bringing out these palliatives. Yes, they are not satisfied with the way it's going, but they should calm down and let them walk it through. If you calm down Nigeria, once you calm down, you lose everything. You shouldn't calm down. They should put the government even when you say calm down. The government going back to their strategy to resort to anything. The labor minister saying that they should give it some time that is just coming into office. And that's, is it not Nigeria? Just coming to office doesn't make it easier. And part of this was happening since 29 of May when the president inaugurated. So he did ground run. So it shouldn't have been there for the strike notice. But let's move to the issue of the rail that was inaugurated yesterday. Yes, after about 40 years, we now have a blue line in Lagos that's going to fly between Marina and the Mainchew. That's a good one. That's also going to be the red line. And I think that's the way to go. This is what we're going to have done over 40 years. That's the government of former military leader, Mohammad Buwari, escorted that attempt by Jack on the government after the top man in 1993. That was supposed to be a, by now, Nigeria, Lagos would have been totally covered by this rail. But that was not to be a good enough. Yes, the governor Samu Olu was able to flag up that. And that to me is to be a good one. So by the time Lagos is finally connected by rail, that would be a very, very big solution to the problem of transportation. And letting us all use this opportunity to go on. Those of us who are in Lagos, the questions have been one, don't try to cross the rail. This is not like Aggie rail or Igumu rail. Don't try to cross the rail because the place is wired. So let them stay off that. Congratulations to Lagos. Indeed, congratulations to Lagos State. Governor Samu Olu has also assured that the red rail will also come on board before the end of this year. So more goodies in store for Lagosians there. So let's move forward to the next newspaper, the leadership. And the leadership is leading with hardship. Labor Sean's FG begins one in strike over delayed palliatives. That is the lead story. We've talked about that. Presidential polls, anxiety ahead of tribunal judgment tomorrow. And then above the masthead, you have why Nigeria's refineries will never work. That's Obasanjo. And then just beside it, you have blame Buhari for current economic crisis. Not in Ubu. And that's coming from San Nusi. Let's talk about these two, Chris. First of all, former President Ulushego Obasanjo is speaking again. Nigeria's refinery will never work. He's given the reasons why. Yes, he gave reasons. And part of it is corruption, which is part of it. I do not totally believe that the refineries will not work. It will work. If they have the self-reliant, the price will not work. It will work. Why is it working in other countries? And why won't it work in Australia? Is it that other countries that are having their refineries have to go there from the moon? They're not from the moon. I come to realize that some of the people are working those refineries across the globe. And Nigeria's will be short. So we have the capacity to run our refineries. It has been done before. We have self-reliance in the past. We had to worry. We have been talked about. So and it works. So if it worked, then why won't it work? What I just believe is that just have the right set of people to do the job and also have the right mindset. Then the issue is also making sure that those that are ready to be able to supervise to pretend on these refineries are also transparent and not corrupt. They also have to change the mindset of most of the people at NNPC who believe that the best way to go about this is the rotation of wealth. When we change that mindset, we can be able to refine our crew, just like every other country. Because when you just talk about refineries, refineries is not just about petrification. We just talk about refineries, people just believe it's just the truth. It's not just about petrification. There's this rule. There are also the other by-products of truth, like evasion and fuel. So it's not just about petrification. There's crude and there's petroleum. There's evasion, fuel. There's this rule. There are other by-products that are used for all the other things that are useful, you know, jelly, like motto oil, too many things that are important that we can be able to. So it will reduce our importation and also be able to safeguard our foreign exchange. So we don't spend all we have what to make in our foreign exchange by using it to buy petrification. That is why we said that less people are going to say that the government have no business. They say, no, government have business in business. Aramco, the biggest petroleum company in Saudi Arabia, is owned by the government. The government owns close to about 90 percent of Aramco. And that's if you see how much that company makes every year. That is one of their number one products that is their And they have a technology. They have a technology that enables them. I think you've seen their workstation, where they can tell you where each pipe is passing through and the rest of them. So that is what we need. In these days, what we need is technology. Annoying industry that is technology driven. I will get it right. We can be able to do it. If you can look at it from this point, we have Gokumam. Wherever if you are going somewhere, all you just need to do is put your address on your Gokumam and you see the map that and continue to direct you. That is how you continue to hear that woman. I'm sure you use that woman's voice. Go left. They can go take you to your remote village. So that is a power of technology. So it's not something it's not skyrocketed that we cannot have the power of other people. But what we don't have is for the school because of corruption and other places that Nigerians are just so I don't agree with that. Then to the other one by the by something I mean something that made us say if you read this page and he said somebody who had practically had no couple that became a member of the boy risk cabinet is not flying the private jets as the private jet. That is jamming. That shows you the level of corruption within the boy risk government. And that was why I was laughing about my he replied of garbage to the statement issued and the interview granted by former IGF Adoki where he was saying oh Rari came to form Nigeria he brought corruption to a standstill and all those are garbage because we know personally I still repeat that Rari has been the worst president since 1999. I stand to be correct but that's my personal opinion because this is a man that came with so much hope but it couldn't deliver. So I'm coming to say so but I'm not the one really the one saying even the current government have said that they heard so much from them in terms of economic crisis from Rari Rari's government yet they said it remember he said it some other government officials of this current government officials have also said so so what legacy will you say that Rari never expects that is what it is and which is why some people believe that this current governments if they have the will and the political which should look to look into the books of the Rari's government that so much will be inherited if another government another party took over government from Rari what we're doing now is know what we've been doing but because it's the same APC APC they have a way of covering themselves another party would have gone into the books to look at some of the things that the level of corruption on that would have been worse than what we could be if that happened in that aspect that is how it goes so whatever Sandit said or have been saying is nothing to our ideas which is just a part. All right let's move to the nation newspaper and at least with federal government till you see strike over subsidy pains not needed now you have the writers there NLC pushes ahead Sean's meeting with the minister wage award plan ready in two weeks presidency quotients against mixing of labor matters with politics and then you have above the masthead tolling of federal highways to go on says umahi oando acquires NAOC's upstream oil assets you have someone who drops five in new nominees list to assembly and more insights into to nubus 100 days in office so um someone who drops five new nominees list to assembly chris what do we know about this yes the you know there was a meeting between the park which is the political um what would i call it engine room of the peace takers and um um the person will do as well as the speaker of us a few days ago we had the resource some of the issues gray areas and i was raised by the class of assembly on the issues of the issue of the commissioner nominees uh and um after that meeting i think that that's all so you have to drop uh bife of the nominees and jeter pike more probably to assuage the demands of the house of us but the key people uh some of the key people that i think are on space one is uh uh i can't buy of me so i can't buy me from a commissioner health i think the system that is uh gringo motor show for my information commissioners to in dallas and some other ones so but so they've come to a compromise and then to be smooth sailing um the committee uh headed by the i think the majority of the house is charge of the screening and i feel that next few days they will spin and the commissioners will be as usual be called to the class of assembly to answer certain questions and take a bow and i think that issue is um resolved and then it goes straight to one and um and that is what it is so in the next few days we are going to see that um and these commissioners them with many commissioners there are going to be screened and approved and the governor will ask with them to start their job that of the commissioner about the commissioners yeah and so you have uh more insight into tenubu's 100 days in office you know when i saw that it just hit me 100 days already and it just seemed like yesterday when we were talking about the inauguration in abuja 100 days do you want to take off what they've taken off and that's it it comes in days you just like a a new bit in my play they say just never born once you don't burn you can't don't begin work you don't begin that's that's you know so um 100 days yes it looks uh that's it's just like yesterday the government is already uh it's the real motion and they are moving and um except anything happens tomorrow this government will continue to exist except there's something out there even if it does any kind of uh don't mention world that is not uh did not people at the end uh alignment you know don't forget that is they have it is in court this case we get to the supreme court definitely so uh the government is already on the path to uh really not uh some of his promises and also trying to consolidate all right so let's move to the guardian newspaper uh the guardian newspaper leads with president's burden of resetting nigeria in 100 days you have the picture of the president there i like the way the the the guardian has captured this and um they gave some talking points um feel subsidy removal foreign exchange liberalization appointment of service chiefs emir fili arrests emir fili's arrest and persecution uh efcc bust removal students loan scheme dissolution of mda's boards appointment of ministries nigeria crisis rising inflation high fuel crisis prices bloated cabinet strike in living costs worsening effects crisis rising poverty shrinking household incomes so the guardian broke it down for us and gave us a summary of what this 100 days have been like all right so bold reforms leave nigerians more miserable amid assurances uh that is uh the big story on the guardian newspaper and so you have gabon co-leader general nga ma sworn in as interim president apprehension as labor begins warning strike court rules on presidential election uh chris you want to talk about gabon yes gabon yesterday the military leader who is causing to our state the leader was sworn in as a military head of states um by doing his ph he didn't tell he didn't tell the world what he's going to do about transitional power to these two civilians which is always the way uh the military's role in african retail they want to correct certain deals uh but you can't realize that after some time that they'll be able to do that they want to consolidate uh which the innovation of the military head of state yes it has been stopped for five military head of state within the uh west africa and um central african john past few months talking about um gabon this year you know vaso madly and gini konakry and um the the question in everybody's mind and list now what which which are that country which which is the next country and uh which is what we have always asked african leaders to mention that they deliver on their promises and stop making yes nobody's asking for cool uh cool military military administration in start of fashion in way to do his democracy but i have to say african leaders be playing the democracy the way it ought to be basically as defined even in primary school uh primary school and secondary school government of people by the people and for the people that you ask yourself most of this government in africa is it for the people is it by the people is it by the choice of the people a situation where you see somebody a family ruling a country for almost 55 years and a president trying to change change the constitution just to show himself and see his character supposed to go on two terms change the constitution to uh to try not to hurt them even when he's hoping that he doesn't mention he also want to change um uh power there you see what's happening is country runs african republic and so many other countries in africa where presidents that presidents have transformed from being president to monarch monarchs and that is the issue then when they go happen some of them quickly start changing their military leaders uh or their service chiefs and rest of their say that it's a solution to it when the time is up they'll be someone like bobby who is over 90 still want to go for another term probably wants to be president president for life it's 100 they're hard to be able to justify that so but in gabon what's happening in gabon is a bit different from that of nissue republic the difference is that that of gabon everybody will see that there was a total uh alienation of the wills of the whole of gabon that of nissue is a bit tricky in that um the kooledias are planning to contribute to one of these Nigerians why they why they engage in that in that group and that is what they're still trying but in nissue also you know just realize that just use the uh ban based on uh on the space of nissue so that means light can now go into nissue and also from attache and also pass to nissue to other parts of the world yeah isn't it interesting that a you and um echo was appears to have been more reactionary than not anything else i mean they wait till the military boys strike and then they begin to talk and begin to make moves and all of that but when these so-called democratic leaders perpetrate themselves in office a tinker with the constitution and commit all sorts of things against the people they do not do anything you know that just saying look up as a boy on table when you eat and then we don't talk shouldn't talk and that is what is happening so all of that they're not same on the same they are same on the same so i when you say you talk who are the people you're talking about head of state of african you know head of state of it was head of state of state the in south africa and that of central africa central african republic for example uh in one of the countries the president is about changing the constitution again so that he can remain in office you saw what happened in simpab in simpab a few days ago during the election that was particularly rigged by and this was also somebody that um when he when he won election simpab was too too bad to celebrate him because of the atrocities caused by former president mogabi and they thought they've gotten a leader and that is a new dawn but the one that is taking over from mogabi's getting was that and you can see the opposition having started things on my pictures about the country so that is african leaders for you so they will never speak against their own and when it happens they just come out with the waters oh no military is nothing military is that the fact is that they have to don't they have a mechanism a way of talking to themselves and another aspect of it uh i don't know before we get up is that the willing power the willing power of french the french government in africa is doing limb by the day it is doing limb by the day because if you look at the coup that's happened before coup that happened west africa those are french speaking countries you have to for example first uh for uh west african french people even that of gabon is french too i would for example if it's not the power that was a coup against the father of ali bongo that was a coup and after that coup the the french government the fragility came into gabon and also reinstalled him and most of those that that's where that's where but now you can see that they also thought that thing their time is up in africa so it's a new dawn in africa and the way i'm seeing is what i would call the uh french uh what you know we used to have the hara spring probably what is going on is the french spring in in africa and most of these africans want to just remove themselves and start themselves from the quote of the french government and the question i keep asking is are we listening are we um listening to what's happening i mean look at kigami has sacked uh we i mean you're aware he's sacked over 200 or about 200 of the military chiefs in his country one would think that you know these ones in power these democratic leaders in powers would if anything adjusts you know if they were doing anything wrong if they were in they would sit up and you know use their tongue to count their teeth as our people would say but what they seem to be doing is making sure that they remove whoever may appear to be a potential threat yes they are too they they're just um edged that's why particularly let's talk about um you wonder um yes in as much as kigami is the same put on trying to i think it's there for about three years and whatever but you cannot compare what is happening in rwanda with other african the level of development in rwanda is awesome whether you like it or not there have been a lot of people it's just not i still don't believe that only one person can get it done but when you look at the level of if i don't if you look at the development level of people if you have been to uh kigali of recent you'll be shocked you think that you're in european country but this was a country that some years back who had that massive um genocide and killings at rest of them but he was going to turn it around but the fact is that he cannot be the only one to do it thank you what does the constitution say that the constitutional whether you are the best or not the best of course um barack obama is the was one of the best uh president uh to us hard but that's why all that is how good he was after eight years he had to live so that is what so it's constitutional development it's not about how good or you are what you're able to achieve you know in the log up i wish to say class five not one by one so when you finish class five you go come out another another person so and we say senority is not forever those are the our words in those days in second district but the part of me is that if it's a that is a constitutional thing if it you are giving certain terms once we are done with that then just leave and let another give put a a a a a well organized election system in place so that the people's mandate recounts let them elect who their leaders are and whoever they let should be able to deliver so for you to read and just become steady constitution just because of what you think that you have delivered senority so um i think it's a one is time to some of them in july let them dismiss all the generals in the army most of them you the men who you have to realize that those are blank people's of these countries and these countries are not even generous they are just the those within the captain and major arms and that is what has been happening in other parts of Africa the junior ones plan the good executed and just get one genera to be an integrated and that's what has been happening yeah another term we used to have or use in secondary school was senior pangolo it does appear we've had a lot of senior pangolos who are not doing anything and don't want to leave they have to leave they just have to leave whether they like it or not yeah well thank you so much chris for your time thank you very much for having me have you wonder you too chris kendall and the member of the chartered institute of arbitrators in the uk has joined us in legal state on off the press you're still watching of the breakfast and plus tv africa is a tuesday edition and it's time for us to take a break and come with our first hot topic stay with us