 I understand the magnitude of the task ahead, President-elect Bola Med Tinibu says. As we count down to inauguration day, we address concerns of ethnic and religious groups and the task ahead for Bola Med Tinibu and all Progressive Congress' Governorship candidates in River State, Tonya Cole denies withdrawing petition against the results of the state This is Plus Politics. I'm Mary Anna Cole. President-elect Bola Tinibu yesterday began his final movement to Asovila, the seat of government. He reflected on the weight of responsibility on his shoulders as he received the baton of service and transitioned documents from outgoing President Mohammad Buhari during an impressive ceremony at the State House in Abuja. The President-elect who paid tribute to President Buhari is a Democrat. He said he understood the magnitude of tasks ahead of him, assuring that he will not disappoint Nigerians. Critics say there is a little to show for Buhari's excessive borrowing, but Tinibu, who inherits three times more debt than Buhari, did when he was first elected in 2015. His concern will be how to boost revenue since he cannot borrow as much as Buhari did without worsening the precarious debt burden. Joining us to discuss this is Baba Shala Dehwih. He's a political analyst. Also joining us is Sunni Madhika, also a political analyst. Thank you so much, gentlemen, for joining us and good evening. Thank you, Anne. Yes. It's interesting because of course all eyes are on the FCT looking forward to the inauguration of the President-elect while I met Tinibu and his vice, Kashim Shetema. Of course for the states that will be also experiencing inauguration for their governors. The whole country is going to be a gug with ceremonies, pomp and pedantry. But what's most important or the most concern for Nigerians is the task that lies ahead for the President-elect. I'll start with you, Baba Shala. Most people are seeking for political will because many who have criticised the Buhari administration have criticised the lack of political will to make a lot of things happen. In assessing the person of Bola I met Tinibu, do you see a man that is armed with the political will to do the things that need to be done to push Nigeria to where it ought to be? Baba Shala, can you hear me? Can you hear me? I can hear you. Go ahead. I believe you can hear too. I can hear you. Go ahead please. Yeah. I'm so sorry Baba Shala, we're having issues hearing you. I'm so sorry Baba Shala, we can't hear you. I think that your connection is really bad, we cannot hear you. I'm going to toss that question to Madukah to see if we can answer it while we try to fix your audio. Yes, Mr Madukah, you can go ahead. Yeah, you can hear me. Yes, we can hear you. For the first time in the history of Nigeria that we're having a celebration or inauguration where Nigerians are not truly happy and you can't talk about what you want to do for the people when the citizens are not carried along. Just recently the military has declared every Nigerian in terms of coming to even be part of the inauguration. Abuja's are today's lockdown. So I don't know how we're going to do on this inauguration that people are talking about. At least in order that I know inauguration should be a national celebration. If you look at what is happening today, you discover that it's as if the whole country is in mourning and probably because of the expectations that we had met in terms of who is coming on board. I remember during the second term that it was rumored that there was an election, rigging, violence or whatever. But never have I heard it so bad that citizens as are today are not part of the inauguration. It is like this inauguration is for certain allies, not for the terror citizens. It's like the selected people who should be part of the inauguration, not the terror citizens. And when I watch other countries inauguration of their president, it's a national affair. Every citizen has a right to be part of this particular celebration. But you can see what is happening. Everybody is quarantined. You're not supposed to step out of your house even to go and witness the inauguration. So as of now, in respect to whatever the promise, the issue is that, and I want to say this, any victory that tends to break down the constitution of a nation will not be legally recognized. And probably why the citizens are not in this mood of being part of what is happening or what is going to happen. I'm trying to understand what the legality here is because whether we like it or not, INEC had announced him as the president-elect, clearly stating the number of votes that he had. Yes, of course, the tribunal will run its costs, but until then, there cannot be a vacuum in government. He was announced as the winner. He's going to be sworn in and the cuts will be left to do their job or the tribunal. So I don't see any legalities. You might be talking about justice being done, but that is left to the court. So because there is somebody who's going to be sworn in, we definitely have to talk about what the person is capable of doing. Now again, let me tell you where there's illegality. We have a constitution that spells out most of the things you are supposed to do. Even the announcement was hardly known. Have you ever heard where an announcement was made by 4 a.m.? Have you ever heard where an announcement, somebody who is telling you to go to court? Have you heard that? You see, the issue is that we all know the truth. I think this country is that, which I used to describe, I've been abnormal in this country. We talk about the 25% in FZT. Has he been? Is he not a constitution? So if you are against that, it's illegal. So everything about this particular thing is illegal. And let me take you back. If you look at the number according to you that is all about the number of votes, no. There are other provisions that you will meet before you are declared presidentally. As of today, I'm talking to you. Anneke is still uploading the presidential result in the IRF. So which result did they use in bringing out this election result? Which result? Then you talk about other things like... You know, in 2003, this same issue of 25 was, you know, as I judged. It was between OBJ and BME. It was clear. And it was stated there that 25% is mandatory for you to be declared as a president. Did he get it? No. I think we are just trying to play the gallery. As Nigerians, as those allies we are, everybody will say, OK, let's go. It is not the truth. Your constitution is your framework. It's your foundation. It's like you're building a house and you start digging out the foundation. How would the house stand? These are the issues. It has become very, very serious for citizens to even go to court. You can see the three judgments. The three judgments all against the citizen. We talk about the $14 million. We talk about the $15 million. We talk about the $2 million. So every citizen that even goes to court now is going to be probably charged for even asking for rights for the constitution to be interpreted. So the country, as far as I'm concerned today, is just living on a pedestrian of, you know, nothingness. And let me tell you, even in sports, if you win a race, you are supposed to jubilate with the spectators. The spectators are supposed to jubilate with you. They are supposed to embrace you. They are supposed to be happy. But today, can you say that citizens are happy? Can you say that citizens are happy? But there are those who are happy, whether we like it or not. There are those who supported the presidency. There are people who are supporters of Mr. President or Mr. President-elect. And then they are happy. And when you say that, you know, people are shot out from the event, there are people who will be in attendance. It's just for security reasons. Hence, you know, it being an event that is strictly by invitation. But I'll put a plug here now. I'll put a pin here now and come back to you. Let me go to Babashala. Babashala, just picking up from where Mr. Madukah stopped, looking at the task that is ahead of the President-elect, of course, the Tunibu administration after being sworn in on Monday. Issues such as the one that Mr. Madukah has raised, obviously, will be daunting for him having to be able to calm Fred Neves and, of course, somewhat trying to convince people that he is deserving of this position. How easy a task is that going to be? Okay, sorry about the network issues I had. On the agenda 17, I think the President actually, the incoming President actually has a lot of things to face when it comes in after this point in on May 29. There is something that I can be certain of, and that is just that I believe that we perform better than we are. That is my belief. But I can tell you, demand is not going to meet up with the expectations of Nigeria based on the issues that have been on demand. For example, the issues of how you want the election and the issues of security, the issues of the division among us in Nigeria. It has a lot of things to face, actually, as the President for May 29. So demand has to be strategic. We actually want to do this country and make it the dream of meeting up. Even up to the corner of the expectation of Nigeria, I would say it is a great plan for achieving that. But there are all the main issues must be addressed. They must be addressed because the country will come on in, the country will come in as a President, and we want to continue for where the last President or the outgoing President are. So just like they have said that they will continue to build on the performance of the achievement. So if you ask me, what is the performance of the achievement of this President? I can tell you President Boal is the sonata period. So if you are telling me what to continue on that ground, it means that you are telling me that you want to make it more worse. You get what? I want to believe that it's not the inspiration that we make and the time we are making it. I just don't want to believe. I want to have this belief of it. I believe that if the President, the incoming President is serious, I remember is an advocate of the responsibility of Nigeria. Let's start the key. Let's keep the ball rolling immediately. It's not a party fight. Nigeria expects a place that would make the better Nigeria, not a part, not a nation for the few. Just like we have it on this current regime. We want a nation that we can be proud of. We want a nation that we Nigerians can say yes. Before we get to making the nation what it is, I ask a simple question. How easy is it going to be for Bola Metinu to convince Nigerians that he's deserving to be President of this country, knowing what's marred the election, how the election turned out? Again, because it's one thing to say you're President. It's another thing for people to accept you and your administration. Whether we like it or not, it's going to be sworn in on Monday. But he has a job of convincing. How easy is that going to be? Definitely, it's not going to be easy. It's not going to be easy because there are issues surrounding his personality. Apart from the issues of hiding, declaring the election, and opting out there are still plenty of results. There are issues surrounding his personality, has been accused of being a drug baron, has been accused of not having a U.S. university certificate, has been accused of not having any bank identification based on the primary or secondary school, has been accused of his name. Oh, it's not the right's name. He's using another person's certificate. He has a lot of things to play, even about himself. That's not a lot there. In the country, he also has issues. In respect of running out the blooping, your plans for Nigeria, we need to be convinced that yes, later we like it or not. He has a certificate and it's going to be sworn in. So we have no choice but to work with him until the judiciary set up. Otherwise, for me, he has a lot of things to do to convince Nigeria in respect of him. Or else, we will just be there at the ceremony and we know that we have a candidate that is not even controlling, that does not have to disturb the respect of Nigeria. Back to you, Mr. Madukah, a lot of people are saying, let's pray for him and hope that, because again in Nigeria, it's very quick to jettison our responsibilities and go to religion and say, oh, let's pray for the man and hope that he can deliver, even though there are concerns about his health. But then there are same concerns about President Buhari, and here he is, eight years down the line. Many are also saying that there has to be a sustained implementation of people-oriented policies. Again, we go back to the personality of the man because, yes, you can have an idea. Many would also say that President Buhari had the best intention for Nigerians but the establishment worked against him. Now, this has been a man who's called himself a king-maker and now the king-maker is king. Will the king-maker be able to put together the kind of people that will surround him, that would be able to help him, one way or the other, bring together or bring about these people-oriented policies? Or do you see a man talking about his political ambition? Yeah, and let me tell you something. Leadership is all about service. But you know that this man came on a platform of entitlement, you know, ambitious entitlement. It is my tone. So that alone has given him a minus. So he came to Nigerians alone. I must rule. So it's a different thing where you are championing to be a leader of a country. It is not going to be a must. For the prayer you talked about, I just laughed because I don't know who is going to pray for him because the witches and the wizards, they've already intensified their thought to pray for him. Which of us are going to pray for him? Is it the Muslim or the Christian? I see the issue is that we have used religion in Nigeria to the extent that we have not even understood what is spiritual and what is religion. Everything has been ritualized. You know, pray for who? You can only pray for somebody who believes in you. If you watch from when he was campaigning, there was fake prophets. There was fake bishops. So everything about this man, like my brother said, is fake. So where do you start to pray? The only thing I have just asked him that he should do is if he can, let him start by being sincere. Talk to Nigerians in the way they should understand. Because he had this proud, bright enigma. He feared that he owned Nigeria. He feared that he owned everybody. That is why he cannot even come to media house. He cannot even go to court. He doesn't go anywhere. So how can you pray for this kind of person who failed and has even gone to Nigeria? He feared that he is even doing what is faithful for being a president. So this is the problem. You can only pray for somebody who says you pray for me. He never asks for prayer any day. So in that aspect now, then the other one asks how can he help if he can start from trying to reconcile the ethnic nationalities. As of today, we are disjointed. I'm telling you the truth. Most Nigerians don't even believe in this editing. It is now becoming ethnic and they created it. Because I was expecting when we had the problem in reverse, we had the problem in legacy. I expected him to come out openly and condemn that. Not on press statement. There's a difference between press release and you talking to your citizens. But only press statement and nothing happened. As of today, those people who perpetuated those fraud, those violence, those mayhem and see nothing around. They are still working. Okay, let me ask you and as a few days or three days ago, we saw Asari Tokubo and Saria in Nabuja with a lot of people, the best people they call them. Are these people religious? Are they threatening the Nigerians that if anybody calls them, they are going to deal with that person. I didn't see my president talk against that. I didn't see my president say no, I'm not part of that particular group. So as of today, Nigeria on that seat, nobody can even talk. And that is what I'm saying. If you want to have a better leader or if you want to be a better leader, it's not from you. It's from your party, your character, your disposition, your posture. When people see you, they will say, yes, this is a leader. But what we have, you cannot see him when there is a national event. And that is why we see him in national TV. I've not seen him, especially now. He went to France or where, spent two weeks. He didn't talk to Nigerians. After four weeks of war, he didn't talk to Nigeria. So this is the problem we're having. When you have such a people or such a leader, you can't know where exactly you're going to start to pray. But I agree with one thing that my brother said, if he can start from restructuring this country, after he's a part of NEDECO, he has the blueprint of NEDECO on how Nigeria will work. I think that will be better. I will forgive him for everything. But let him start from where this man stopped. Where PMB stopped. If he starts from where PMB stopped, then we are all, we are going to, I don't know if we are going to say, because now we are in NCP. They probably were going to be in a theater. But I pray that whatever it is, the man should come down. He should remove this gap of pride. Come down to citizens. Embrace citizens. How many times have you even seen him publicly? But you can see what the presidential candidate coming out. This is citizenship. Citizenship got we and them. Master's slave identity. That's what we are seeing. And he cannot continue to work. And he cannot end his citizens, have their citizens support. If he cannot talk to them. If he cannot meet with them. If he cannot meet with them. If he cannot feel them. This is what we need now. Nigeria needs healing. That healing should come from the president. Who understands what healing means. And that healing means that he will start from him and he will start to come into the public and embracing us as citizens. All right. Let's talk about some of the other issues that have to do with policies that the president is going to inherit. We can talk about the fact that, look, Nigeria is dealing with a high level of indebtedness, whether we like it or not. There's some level of hopelessness right now for the average Nigerian. And there's so many pervading problems. Last minute, in the space of one month, this administration that's outgoing has borrowed and borrowed and borrowed as of yesterday 225 billion also in the works. And they're saying it's payment for court cases or something about the judiciary. And we have already exceeded our borrowing threshold. So, let's look at some of the things that he has to deal with. And where do you think he should start from? If you were to be part of the advisory body, what would you advise the president elect to start from in dealing with Nigeria's marital problems? Okay. On that, I would say if I'm close to the one of the advisory, I will actually advise him to start from the reduction of cost of governance. And the appointment of special advisor, senior special advisor, assistant senior special assistant all those things. It starts to be reduced. Let's have a specific number of special advisors that can work. What do we need special advisor for everything all over again? We have a special advisor of about 30 something also. And we have some of them. We have a special advisor for nothing. It's cost of governance has to be reduced. What are the two things that are not necessary that we have created for to increase the cost of governance? So all those things has to be looked into. How many governments that are not actually functioning, but they are just there and collecting allocation and we are not seeing any results. Let's have from this, reduce the cost of governance by all means. Then the next thing we need to do is to look at if what has been done with all the loans that has been collected by this government since 2015 up to now. Because if you have to look at all the loans, the one that is the one that was one of yesterday that the government is now asking for additional loans of about 200 and some to give you for the national assembly to approve. For what purpose? What have they been doing with all the bonds? This 77-year-old era or over 77-year-old era? Where is the money? What have they done? They need to look into it. All those things have to be queried. If the government is actually serious about impacting the lives of the people, if the government is not involved about that today, that means the government will continue to live with that. Look at the media of today. If we cannot continue to live with this money generating revenue, that will be enough for us to establish these loans and at the same time develop our country, the economic growth of energy development. We cannot use such flow. We cannot use the revenue we are generating. We have a lot of things to do. This government has to do something about the cost of government. It has to be reduced and we also both think that is very important is to address the issue of insecurity. When we are talking of insecurity, we are talking of people being kidnapped. We are talking of banditry. We are talking of all those things. They have to be addressed. Let the military let the police, let the police let those that are in charge of banditry, let them concentrate on it. Let them be focused on the issue. This government has never said anything about the government that we stay in. They are not given anything about the do something about to me, but not a lot of things actually, but I know this time it's almost spent, so I will stop there, thank you. Well, it looks like it's a very huge and a daunting task ahead of the president-elect. We look forward to Monday, and of course, right after that work begins. I want to say thank you, Baba Shaladevi and Sonny Madukah, our both political analysts. Thank you so much gentlemen for being part of the conversation. Thank you very much. All right, we'll take a quick break and then we will go to River State where Tonya Cole is challenging the election results in River State and he's saying it's not backing down. Stay with us.