 Bola Tinibu will not treat the ebos badly on or counters Reno mockery over allegations that Tinibu's pledge to continuity from Bohari's government meant marginalization of the South East. And Senator representing Adolphe South in the Senate, Rogiday, says Tinibu must reconcile and unite Nigerians. This is Plus Politics and I'm Mary Annacolm. Intellect, Bola Amer Tinibu's spokesperson in the South East, Dr. Joseph Honor, has once more reassured Nibu that the incoming administration of Senator Bola Amer Tinibu will not discriminate against any section of Nigeria, let alone the important Southeast geopolitical zone. He said that Tinibu just inherited baggage from the sabotaging cabinet members who intentionally demarketed the all-progressive Congress in the Southeast, hence when Tinibu emerged as the presidential candidates of the party, huddles were already set for him in the zone. The spokesman was reacting to an interview where the former presidential aide Mr. Renner Mockery alleged that Tinibu's pledge of continuity from Bohari's government meant that the Southeast will remain in marginalization. Honor, however, said it was disappointing that everybody in the Southeast had decided to play the ethnicity card and has tried to misconstrue the statement of the president's elect to mean that he will marginalize the Southeastness. Joining us to discuss and break this down is Alfonso's, he is the chairman of the all-progressive Congress in Cross River State, and Tinibu Abdelhamid, who is a legal practitioner and a member of the People's Democratic Party. Thank you so much, gentlemen, for joining us. And good evening. Thank you for having me, I'm going to start with you, Mr. Eba, because you obviously are from the APC, and May 29 is a few weeks from now, as many are looking forward to the swearing in of the president-elect and the hurdles that lie ahead for him. But let's start by looking at the issue of marginalization. Now we know that the Southeast has been described as one of those regions that have gotten the short end of the stick in terms of everything, whether it be infrastructure development, you know, good governance. And sometimes you could also add that they've not had some of the best leadership when it comes to those who govern them. But of course, when it comes to regionalization and the sharing formula, the ebos feel that they are left out, hence what we saw under the good luck administration with the rise of iPop and the likes of Nnamdi Kanu. But what has happened and transpired during this election that has led up to, you know, the emergence of Bola Med Tinubu? Do you see the Southeast as being embracing towards the president-elect, neither do you see the president-elect opening his arms to them? Thank you very much for the opportunity to be with you today. I am sure if Nigerians, or particularly the person who made the comment that the ebos were marginalized under Asiwaju's administration, understands the meaning of renewed hope and the person of Asiwaju Bola Med Tinubu, in terms of his antecedents, his pedigree and character, he would have known that the ebos will have a better opportunity, better than the good they have enjoyed under the present situation. And I say so because the president-elect, when he was governor of Lagos State, he brought people from different climes, tribes, and religious divides to make in his cabinet. And he has come in consonance with the biblical provision that said, where there is doubt, let me bring hope, where there is despair, let me bring faith. The doubt and the despair today can only be renewed with a renewed hope. The South Eastern part of Nigeria, I must say emphatically, are long deserving of having a son or a daughter from that area to govern this country. However, democracy being what it is, people from that area have tried to contest for the presidency of Nigeria, unfortunately, I'm sure God is reserving their own special time. But the president-elect Tinubu is coming for all sections of Nigeria and ebos should have no fear because his document is truly an accord with Nigerians and the South East would not be an exception. Please disregard that take. Let me come to you, Tunji, looking at the voting patterns during this just concluded elections, whether it be for the February elections or the March elections, we saw a clear cut, you know, voting across ethnic and maybe a tinny-winny religious lines, but we saw more divisions across those ethnicities. And with the rhetoric that we saw, especially here in Lagos with the hate speech that a lot of people, including representatives of the APC campaign council here in Lagos, there's so much so that people were told to go back to the estate and we also saw some hate speech against the, not just the other parties, but even a particular governorship candidate here in Lagos and there was nobody speaking up against it until there was immense pressure for the governor to speak up against it. Do you see hope or what hope do you think the future holds in terms of trying to blur those lines that have already been continuously expanded by hate and ethnicity? Unfortunately, it's going to be difficult for us to come back together as one in terms of where we come from because the last election and what happened clearly cannot be erased because people will not forget. You can only forgive and you can't forget. So the water in Lagos, regarding you are from this place, you are not from this place, you cannot vote because you're not here, from here or whatever, people will see it in mind and they will see it alone, it will matter what. But the only thing that I have to say that is for the incoming government to not to make that manifest that particular agenda in terms of the way in which a performance will be done because if the government is caught up in the region and now it's ending where it comes from and why it belongs to, then that may raise some of the mind, what is in the mind of some of the people that are seen to have been offended by what happened in the last election because truly, just like you said, the last election was immediately based on ethnic sentiment. You will be able to understand all those things. In fact, in Lagos, it was manifested clearly because they made it clearly a point of if you are not voting for a PPC and you are an Igbo man, you cannot vote. Those areas were there. We saw it on video. We saw it everywhere. It's not a matter of a conjunction or allegation or just assumption. It happened. We saw it. So, like I said, the only way that can be done with this is for the incoming government of Astro-Igbo-Lagos to ensure that everybody, every region is carried along in terms of not just appointments, quality appointments given to every region, not like what we saw in this current regime where by a certain section of the country take over all the southern area, the southern area of the government, ministries and departments, I think. But unfortunately, the transitional committee set up by this administration, the government, incoming government, leave most of the desire because apparently no Igbo was included in that committee, which raised an issue for people. People now see that maybe it was deliberate because they didn't give much food to him. We all saw what he got in that. I'm not sure he got a 25% in any of the sub-ease. And then probably people are thinking because of that, he's trying to punish them for that. But they are sure that I know we may not want to punish them for that. Now, if I thought they would be punished, that may be the second term. Because I told you, as it is today, the appointment that would be done now would be based on the 2027 election. People are only planning for 2027. And I see a few of you are still planning for 2027 in that regard. So I don't expect him to throw that line of ethnic sentiment in his appointment this evening. I want you to use the word punishment because I'm just thinking to myself, why would the word punishment even come to play? I see, while I met Tunibu was not running to be president of the South-South or the Southwest, he ran to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, inclusive of every region across the country, whether they voted for him or not. And this reminds me of something similar that happened when President Mahmada Buhari was coming into office and certain sentiments that were displayed in some of his comments that made people wonder if the South-East was going to be at a loss of sorts under his administration and we've seen how that has gone. But when you say punishment, I don't know if it sits well with me. Why would anybody want to punish a group of people for not voting for him? You have to pardon me for that adjective. That is the adjective that comes from my head at that time. So what I mean by punishment is that look, when you want to share a position that you now must look at people and say, okay, well, you people from this area you gave me social number of votes, you people from this area you gave me social number of votes, you people from this area you gave me social number of votes. So in sharing those responsibilities and positions, some other people will be more considered than the other, based on what they brought to the table. You see, now that is even manifesting. We are talking about the Senate presidency and the House of Representatives presidency. That time you put it away for construction. Some of it used to be used against some of those people in the South-East. Because they were saying what number of votes they brought to the table. So that is what I mean by punishment. Punishment I mean that is just relatively in terms of appointment, in terms of not giving them proper whatever. I agree with you, once you are a president of the country, you will become the president of everybody. So whether or not I vote for you or I don't vote for you, I will hold responsibility to be fair to everybody. And that is why I say that look, I see that happening in this first four years. It may likely happen because the people are looking at second time. And when you are looking at second time, you have to do everything to please everybody so that you are able to have your way easily in 2027. So if you look at what people are saying, and what you even said during the campaign, I remember when I was in Nelubu also, I can't remember the after state, when he said, do you know that what you bring is what you get? He said that, I heard that. And then you can see when this composition is coming up now, whether it was the presidential committee or whatever, the presidential committee, no ego was included. Which made people to raise issues as to whether or not he was to align his statement at that time. I also bear in mind that he also said he wants to continue from where the current president's talk. The current president said it that time, I will take care of those who gave me 25% before coming to you, those who gave you 25%. So people are now saying, if you want to follow the trend of that or the former president, he may likely go the same way of the former president. Who would say to say, look, since you did not give me, and you gave me the little votes, I also give you the two appointments. That's what people are saying. Let me come back to Alfonso's. What exactly do you think that the president's elect meant by saying that he would continue from where his predecessor stopped? Because of course, many people have not necessarily given President Bahari a pass mark in terms of governance, in terms of how he's dealt with the ethnic divisions that we've had. We've seen a lot of problems emanate from the southeast. And can you say wholeheartedly that President Bahari has handled that issue in the southeast pretty well? And if your president elect is saying that he's going to start or continue from where the president stopped, what exactly do you think he meant? Before I answer that question, let me just a little bit educate my colleague on the other side. You need to go and take a proper look at the list of the transition committee and check the origin of some members of that committee. It is not for me to start mentioning names here for some very good reason. But I have one person at least that is Igbo Baibeth. So please just to make a corrigendum to that. Then two, I understand the psyche of my brothers in Philippi. I was there before. But please do not wear a morning gown that is deeper than the indigo of a parade. Allow the Igbo's themselves to complain because I have a very good relationship with my Igbo brothers and sisters. And so far so good. They are very confident and comfortable with the arrangements so far and they know that they will have a place of pride in the Igbo's administration. Yeah, but straight to your question. And quickly also, yes it is true that when President Buhari came on board he talked about the 5%-90% percent. You will see that in 97%-5% President Buhari talked about in mathematical calculation 5 and 97 does not even give you 100. It was only a behind checker. And let me tell you how far that joke was taken to. Today the second Niger Bridge, one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by President Buhari in this country. That project is nowhere in the south-south. It's not in the southwest. It's not in anywhere in the north-central. It is in the southeast region. If you put 5% in question that he joked about that first time, you would know that if that was to be taken into consideration that bridge wouldn't have been done. And so many other things in terms of juicy appointments. Please, let us just be focused and be positive towards the future and leave what is behind us. Because only God brought President Asiwaju Olametini. And like I started by saying just go to his and go by his antecedents and you will know how he brought the Igbo's. He brought the houses. He brought the Igbo's. He came from different ethnic and religious backgrounds to put in his cabinet that is the man we are talking about. And the word renewed hope. It is not just a statement that you make. It has some very strong divinity. And I wanted to take a look again at it from the book of corrections in the Bible. And you will see what that hope represents that is being renewed. So when Asiwaju, our president elected, he wants to continue from where President Buhari is talking. There are a whole lot of issues like you have noted. The issue of insecurity in the southeast has not been properly, completely and conclusively dealt with. He will take it off from that angle. He needs peace to develop the southeast region. He will sit and dialogue with the people and he will take it to his logical conclusion. If antecedents is anything... In terms of infrastructure... Can I just come in? If antecedents is something that we must go by, how come when we were having this issue of if you're not voting for Asiwaju, if you're this person, you're not going to be allowed to vote here? Why didn't he speak up? Why didn't we hear directly from the president-elect? Hold on, I'm not there yet. Just hold on, because you see the thing is silence is only golden when it has to be, but when you know that things like this can lead to a bigger problem, it's best to speak up on it, but we did not hear the president-elect speak at the time when we needed to hear him speak so that the people would come together, but there was radio silence. So if it's antecedents we must go by, then of course people also need to take into consideration what happened before, during and after the election. So again, should we also take into consideration the fact that he might keep quiet while the South East is boiling? That allegations remain phantomist-goreans. You don't react to what does not exist. What do you mean by it does not exist? It did happen, it did happen, and we all fight. We have videos, we have factual evidence, it did happen, or are we going to say it did not happen? Hold on, hold on my dear sister. You spent your better time in the studio, so you would not know what to do. Oh, I was in the field, I'd like to collect you. I'd like to collect you, I was in the field, just so you know. Oh, you were in the field? I am sorry, later you will tell me who are those persons that made those allegations so that we can take on them, but I condemn that in totality. Isn't that much enough to say? But I'm sure, if they were ever made to the knowledge of our president-elect, you would have condemned it because he's not a man that is known for tolerating and not good. You recall the last time I was here with you on this station, on the 2nd or 3rd of February, there was a serious situation in this country. The issue of redesigning of the Naira note, the issue of a petrol subsidy, and the issue of a fuel fuel. We were biting seriously in this country. President, I see why you came out to speak against it. I was your guest on this station, if you recall then. So, you must take a man for what he is known for. A very courageous man. A man who will take on what is wrong and condemn without money. Why didn't he condemn this? He is a totally detribalized Nigerian. And if there was any such he brought to his attention, he would have condemned it. That is the best I can say to that. So you're telling me that the person who was running to be president of this country, who had a situation spread across this country, did not know about this. He flew under his radar, he did not condemn it. And so as Nigerians... You heard, we did not hear. We did not hear. Interesting. So should we take it that there are lots of things that are also going to continue to take the president by shock when he becomes president, just like President Mohammed Buhari? Mr. Chairman, the question is for you. Can you hear me? Mr. Chairman, can you hear me? I think that we have lost that connection, Mr. Chairman, back. Mr. Chairman, let me come back to you. Renault-Makri is mostly talking about the fact that of course we know that Renault is representing your political party. And obviously your party still has a grouse with the fact that they don't believe that the president-elect won this election. But of course he clearly was announced by INEC as the winner of this election and will be sworn in come May 29. But again, looking at the issue of like what's happening like what the chairman said that the president was not aware he would have flagged it. But you obviously live in Lagos. You know what happened on Election Day and all of the things that, you know, happened. He's saying that the president has had a great antecedence. I mean, look at his time as a governor. He's saying that there were many people who made up his cabinet that were non-Lagotians, that were also ebos. I mean, we've also seen that under the fashion administration that the likes of Drew Igbukwe, Igbukwe, I beg your pardon. Can we trust that this administration would right all the wrongs of the Buhari administration irrespective of all the promises that the Buhari administration made? Say anything about that. Because they have not even started. They have not even seen his cabinet. They don't even know who and who is on board. And from the look of things it's going to be the same set of people that already know. Those who have been in PDP for 16 years who destroyed PDP who have moved to APC and now in APC. The same set of people that it's going to be using. The people who are marketing are the same people. And I will not be surprised if the president is not aware of what happened in Lagos because he said he would continue from where the current president stopped. The current president is always not aware of what is going on. So if he continues the legacy of the former president so he's going to be surprising to me if he is not aware exactly on things that is not before them or that people are there. So as far as I'm concerned it is not a strange thing for me that he is not aware the chairman is saying that he is not aware of what happened in Lagos. That is the pattern of politicians. When things people are there they fake ignorance of those things. When these people are there they become aware of those things. And like I said it's too early for me to predict whether or not it's going to do any wrong until the cabinet is formed until we see who and who are being on board. Until we know who and who are in this position or that position and we are able to say ok well this is what we see these people may likely bring something better on board. Tengji I want to take you on the issue of PDP and APC. There are lots of people who would ask today what the difference between PDP and APC is that these guys cross but that's the order of the day in Nigeria especially between the PDP and the APC they are strange red fellas but they all run in the same circle and before the end of the year we will see more movements between your parties so can you really say that you are better than those in the APC or are you all not just the same? Those who destroy PDP are now in the 80s I can name so many of them That's the same thing that the APC can say about the PDP What do you say? But that's almost the same thing the APC will say about the PDP I don't know about that because some of them are in PDP for 16 years and they will come out after 16 years and say PDP destroyed the country Who are those who destroyed the country? Who are those in the APC at that time? I know the former minister of transport was in the APC, I was in PDP for over 16 years they are the president of Alfa and government of Alfa so many of them they were all in PDP when they were in government and today they will be complaining about PDP destroyed the country so if you say PDP destroyed the country they will say they destroyed the country and that's what we are saying and these are the same set of people that will come on board to say they want to become minister or want to become a senior president or want to become this and that and you are expecting different results you can continue to do the same thing the same way and expect different results and I want to be surprised if nothing positive in terms of development comes out of this I know once it is done there will be proper policies and I assure you we know how to play the policies and we are already preparing for the next term that is why in advancing those who destroyed PDP those who are in PDP will have personal interest in advancing with them now will you like to quickly assure Nigerians of what to expect after May 29 quickly Mr Airbar can you hear me I think that we lost that connection but we want to say thank you our Fonsa Zebra is the chairman of the All Progressive Congress in Cross River State and Tunji Abdulameed is a legal practitioner and a member of the People's Democratic Party thank you so much gentlemen for joining us up next we take our attention to the calls for reconciliation stay with us