 Welcome back. It's your the breakfast and plus CV Africa in what is likely to be considered as a thought force in Ben West state The Social Democratic Party as the P has entered into an alliance with a labor party LP in Ben West state with an intent to support the later in the coming general elections the state chairman of the SDP in general John and Neh-Marie Announced at a press conference that his entire executive Strondere waits behind the labor party in Ben West state ahead of the 2023 general elections. I mean while the chairman of this parties have been including executive are the 276 electoral wards of the 23 local government eras have been directed to support the Labor Party for good governance in order to revamp the socioeconomic fortunes of the citizenry According to the chairman and I quote I consulted with all other parties the APC the PDP but did not work as one was Trailed with legal issues Others with integrity issues since we did not have a governorship candidate We have decided to give our full support and ensure the Labor Party Wins in Ben West state and salvage the state from infrastructural deficit and failed promises We have Nica Goulet joining the conversation. It's a good thing that he's a son of the soil But he joins us this morning from the United Kingdom. Thank you so much Nica Goulet Unfortunately one it being one I've been able to connect with you. Can you please unmute your device? Yes Sorry, yeah, good morning messy Hi, good morning to our viewers. Happy to be here Well, thank you for joining us. Let's get straight to the conversation now. What do you make of this? Alliance now the this force that's happening One would think that this is actually more like it considered as a thought force Maybe Ben with state because it's at the state level, but what do you make of this? Now if I reach the statement issued by the Proportedly issued by the chairman of the labor party in Ben West state It sounds pretty much to me like a protest You know, he is having grievances with the national office of the party and He is basically issuing a protest And probably a threat to say that if you guys don't support us Are the national level or from the national office? We are going to turn our support And I vote us to arrive a candidate on the labor party platform What I don't know is the reaction of the national office To this development in Ben West stage, but I expect That there will be some sort of reaction from the national office The labor party is lucky to have a candidate in the person or mr. Peter will be who's a serious minded person So even if the national office does not respond I expect Mr. Peter will be to word into this controversy and Resolve it What you're saying that the sdp You know sdp in Ben West state it's not like they really mean it because in their statement as well I mean a statement from the chairman has talked about the fact that he's consulted The apc the PDP but you know, it feels like there's some kind of issues and at the end of the day The labor part is what this resulted to boy if you you might just just be a way to get the attention of The national because we know the crisis that's going on With the sdp and so there are a lot of factions. So you're saying that this is not what we think it is like a thought force I don't think Is a thought force I believe like good like you have really said This is a cry out by the state chairman of the sdp to get attention and And I'm not surprised because like you have really said The sdp is a message in all sorts of controversies. I think even in their governorship Primaries in Benway There are legal tosses that are going on and all of that and for me It is very sad. It's very sad because what we expect are parties like the sdp to start building eternal democracy Start getting assembly seats has a rap seats getting Senatorial seats even governorship seats so that they can become a party to be reckoned with but you know Parties like the sdp allow themselves to suffer the same manley that the major parties are suffering and Then you ask yourself the question if you as a minority party Wants to come into the fray shouldn't you be doing Something different from the major parties because it is in showing that you are different That you'll be able to win the voters onto your side But you cannot come onto the stage and be doing the same thing That the ptp and the apc are doing as a party and expect the people to take you serious So I think the sdp as a party needs to reorganize themselves They also have to watch out because you know this major parties when they see that a church force is trying to form they actually send in fifth columnist into those Movements and disrupt them and I mean it is one of the things that label party itself has to watch out for There could be people who are taking very central race in the label party today But whose objective is simply to disrupt that movement and knock off oxygen From from from their system so that he doesn't work out. He said he said no strategy by the major parties to cause insurrection in parties that they believe are going to Make some some inroads into the elections, especially as we are heading into 2023 I mean, so don't you think that this is coming from a need to have a change at the end of a deal? Unfortunately, there might just be a lot is going on with the sdp You know at the national level The chairman has mentioned the fact that you know infrastructural deficit and The fact that you know the people of Benwick state have really nothing to show for after all of the promises That's been made so it's important that you have You know another force or party or someone come up to salvage the situation Don't you think that this is warning is coming from a desire for change? I mean people are tired. It's not just what you think and that's why they're saying hey We want to throw our support because we don't have a candidate Don't you think that that's the current reality of of Benwick state and there's a need for change? Absolutely there is need for change But the worry here is that a party like the sdp We should be bringing that change is to in the same path That this major parties that they are hoping to change what they are doing It's happening the fact that the label party does not have a candidate if the chairman say the label party does sorry The if the chairman say that the sdp does not have a candidate a Gobernatorial candidate in Benwick that alone is a test sign of Insurrection within that party One has made them not to have a gobernatorial candidate because he did the sdp Ordinary should be a strong minority party. So why would they not have a gobernatorial candidate in a state like Benwick a state that is is suffering a lot of misrule and misgovernance and The electorate are there for the taking So this is the whole point that Yes, there is need for change But unfortunately these parties that are coming up that should be the agent of change Actually doing the same thing repeating the same thing going by the same road That the party you want to sweep up But they are throwing their support to the label party in the state It brings me down to the question of do you think that the the label party in Benwick state has this threat or The structure as we constantly put it You know to win an election especially in that state where you have the presence so The label party not only in Benwick state But nationally does not have a structure along with me structure with me There has to be strong label party movement at the national at the regional at the state 36 states at the 774 local governments at the 8,800 plus words and The hundred and twenty thousand or more polling units in Nigeria You must have representation at all those levels that is what structure means you must have people doing the legwork You must have people knocking on doors Meeting people in the market squares meeting people at their places of work Getting label party to be known and label party candidates to be known at all those levels that I have described That is what structure is and the label party today as we know it does not have those structures as we can see in the recent a kitty governatory election. They didn't make an impact but the advantage that the label party has is one I make their wisdom have decided to give about six to seven months between the emergence of candidates and the proper elections This is something that has not happened in Nigeria and I make has needs to be commented for that So the level party has today Be July all the way to February next year to build those structures It will be very strategic and tactical about it. You see because You know the level party can easily win in Nigeria's election, but they have to carry on in a very strategic way I mean what I can advise them to do is They need to follow the same strategy that those who got Donald Trump at our office followed You see those who got Donald Trump at our office. They didn't bother with Donald Trump supporters Because they knew that even they said Donald Trump has committed murder They will still follow Donald Trump So they instead went and got people who didn't want Donald Trump in office They got them together in a movement and they voted on a Trump out. So you will notice that Donald Trump got 74 million votes 74 million votes on his own was the highest any American president Has pulled in the history of America But these people who wanted Donald Trump out they went and mobilized 81 million voters To come and say no to the 74 million. That is how they kicked out Donald Trump Applying that to Nigeria you have all sorts of groups and blocks that are totally angry With the current system you have as soon they are ignored Students they are home. You have the women see the way APC and PDP treated women. They are there You have the labor unions see how they are treating them You know, you have all those groups if the labor party is strategic and methodical By going to harness all these people Who have one grievance on the other against the system today and they put them in a movement That I can see how they are not going to sweep the elections at all levels in Nigeria But that work needs to be done so far I can't see the labor party doing that work, but they have to begin to do that work now Because I think six months is too long a time. It may not belong enough for them so but let's begin to look at the combination of the SDP and the Labour Party in Benway State. We're talking about the Alliance now that's been formed despite the fact that we know that the center is not together That's why you have All of these factions and different interests, but it is what it is in Benway State. What should we expect from this alliance? so first and foremost the labor party Gobernatorial candidate for Benway is is in his own person a strong candidate Why because he has been in the House of Representatives for four times He has consistently won elections to go back to the House of Representatives In fact when he lost out in the PDP In terms of the primaries he went to Abgai and She still won the election under Abgai the current term he is now in the House of Rep was under Abgai It was why he was in the House of Rep that he did come to the APC and Now to the Labor Party. So he is a young man is I think he's under 40 He has a good following from the youth He is also somebody that is known to have delivered Constituency projects and all of that So the Labor Party can build a very strong and effective campaign around him And if indeed what the STP are doing now is genuine as in the STP are not going into an alliance with them That is also going to be a very very good opportunity for the Labor Party to harness all these Disenfranchised people people who are angry in the system Bring them together and they can take the election easily as far as I'm concerned But a lot of work needs to be done All right then, but do you also expect I mean Nigerians have anticipated up until this point Some thought force movement especially when we understand on the studio understand what happened in 2015 We had different parties coming together you know to withstand or oppose and confront the ruling party at the time so should we expect That particular action to the national level more like Aspect a rise to the national level of this formation the STP and the Labor Party It will be a good thing if the STP are the national and The Labor Party come into an alliance and you speak about a thought force I personally believe that we have a thought force in Nigeria and that's the labor party as we speak today If the elections happen today The Labor Party is going to sweep the elections amongst the educated people Those who are in cities the working class for those who have their PVC's Because the the presidential candidate mr. Peter will be has a huge following I think when the labor party is going to have issues if the elections go today will be at the grassroots And that is where the labor party which is an effective thought force now Yeah, I thought for because you can hear the PDP and the APC Having sleepless nights. They are instead of focusing on their own candidates and on your campus They are focusing on the labor party and his candidate has to tell you that they are feeling the heat So the labor party is a clear thought force for the 2023 elections But they need to do a lot of work at the grass roots as we said earlier They need to take this party to the grass the the ordinary woman and man in the village the farmer The trader in the market and all of that didn't know what the labor party stands for They know the logo of the labor party Do they know the candidates or the labor party if you say mr. Peter will be do they know who he is You know what he has done before and that is a lot of work that needs to be done So if the labor party is very strategic methodical and tactical in their approach Using the same approach that those who do not want don't have trumpet office used to Take him out of office. They are going to win the Nigerian election or in the minimum cost a runoff But that is a lot of work to be done a lot of work to be done But but how do you now say that the labor party is a thought force especially when you also have mentioned that? I mean looking at it the labor party does not even have a structure So we talked about been with state. I mean what's the strength of the labor party in been with state and You look at all the states 36 states including the FCT What's the tendency that they have what he takes, you know to win an election. This is not to Make nonsense of the party, but to look at the facts on the table So how is how are they the thought force and we understand that the force is a combination of other forces coming together till we stand a particular force I saw Like I said if the elections happen today The labor party does not have those structures nationwide But this is what the labor party needs to do and messy. There are going to be very interesting developments As we head towards 2023 what you see today is not what gonna be the situation next month It will not be the same situation by September October December We are going to see more of these alliances more of the campaigns and journey or forces and all of that and To me the labor party Is there to win? The support of those who are angry with the system for instance the APC just announced a Muslim Muslim ticket For a lot of people they are very angry about that Not really they shouldn't be angry because Nigeria has done Muslim Muslim ticket in the past But they are angry because the past seven years of Buhari's government Nigeria has never been polarized a long ethnic and religious divide So the whole issue of ethnicity and religion has been brought to the national fore to if people are sensitive to it So for a party like the APC to now go and form a Muslim Muslim ticket A lot of people including APC members are going to be angry with that And that is where the labor party needs to go to to win all those people over is here I'm talking about the Donald Trump strategy. Sorry. The strategy adopted by those who wanted Donald Trump out They were not all democratic party members Some of them were even Republicans Who didn't want Donald Trump in office? So regardless of their party, they came together and saw Donald Trump out And that is what the labor party should do in terms of strategy You know, just harness all those who are angry with the system If we are angry with the system, I cannot see any Nigeria now Who is not angry with the system? In fact, pictures were shown Yesterday or two days ago of some of the hostages that were taking off the kaduna tray kaduna boundary You look at a machete Nigerian. You look at dehumanized Niger abuse traumatized Nigerians These people have been seized in their own country in Nigeria and they are being kept in Nigeria in Nigeria soil And we have a chief or defense staff that goes to work. His commander-in-chief is traveling up and down What is going for them? Who say you are chief or defense staff or you are commander-in-chief? What are you defending if you cannot go to the rescue of Nigerians who are head hostage in their own country? They are not they've not been taken outside the borders of Nigeria They are inside Nigeria and every day the commander-in-chief, the chief or defense staff, the service chief, the intelligence police They are going to bed sleeping working off eating their food going back to bed Not but during that you have Nigerians like animals in this rain in some forests in Nigeria So people are angry with the system and that is the opportunity for labor party to form to gather all these people and then just throw out these people this APCO, PDP, ATO government That's the same thing that those who wanted to not run out did Opportunity but just a quick one Nika Gule before we just move away now You have talked about the fact that people are angry people are dissatisfied And usually it's a dissatisfaction that bets the thought force And so we're saying that Nigerians are dissatisfied We have seen you know possible alliance, but that didn't happen With the SDP, I mean a bigger part than the labor party and the NMPP were waiting But you have also mentioned that we still have time so anything can happen between now And 2023 elections as we proceed in the course of the day that might just be changes and different actions But one thing that is very Very very real is the fact that if Nigerians are angry and people are dissatisfied And people are tired of the status quo and they won't change what happened in the closest election to 2023 We have two of them the next would be the Oshoon State election fingers across We want to see if people are really dissatisfied if they are dissatisfied Then we begin to see it not just waiting for 2023, but even at the state level So yes, we saw the akiti state elections and nothing happened We probably would have assumed that it would have been an alliance of any sort Just to take out, you know the the party the ruling party at the time But that wasn't even the case the ruling party came back on board. So Where what are we talking about now? Yeah, so there's a lot of work that needs to be done There are at different levels like you have rarely said In akiti the status quo was maintained the ruling party got back Why because the the thought for that is being built around the labor party Hadn't got his game together yet for the akiti Gobernatorial election, they could probably not get their game right for the Oshoon Gobernatorial election, which is this weekend by the way So these these two elections akiti and oshoon are not a very good yardstick to measure The third force movement that is forming now Which will be able to assess this movement around the the third quarter fourth quarter of this year And that is when you would have seen that a lot of realignments and alliances And just links and all of that are going to but you know, like I like I rightly said or earlier said The labor party Is indeed A boarding third force and it can actually make a major impact in the political landscape But they have to be very strategic about it By now Peter will be at the labor party should have a very strong strategy team. This game will be won with strategy Well, I'm sure that it's a conversation that would never end until we get to 2023 Thank you so much nika guli for being part of the show. We appreciate your time Thank you so very much messiah. Have a beautiful day. I hope it's not raining too much in Lagos But then I want to always leave the message with agirians We are all seeing the shenanigans that are happening in the political landscape Where to show our anger is at the ballot box So if you don't have your voters card now, please go and register. Inaq has reopened the online platform You can do your pre-registration online transfer your voter card online. Let's go get our pvcs and we'll speak next year All right, then Well, that's the size of our conversation And looking at the alliance between the labor party and the stp In ben wed state does that mean that it would trickle down to a national movement? Fingers still will continue to be crossed there with us when we return We'll be looking at our second conversation right here