 Great to have you back here on the breakfast. Our final discussion this morning is moving into statements from the presidency alleging plots to destabilize the current administration and the government. The presidency is alleging that there is a plot to overthrow the government. Presidential spokesman Femme Aditiono released a press statement saying religious and political leaders are behind the plot. Aditiono says the evidence to back up the allegation is unimpeachable. Part of the plan, according to him, is to work with external forces to throw Nigeria into unrest. Public analyst Nika Ghoule is joining us from the United Kingdom. Good morning. Thanks for joining us. Good morning. Good morning. All right. Good morning. Happy to be here today. Great to have you here. So I'm going to start with saying that it's not the first time that we're here similar statements from the current administration. I remember a couple of a few years ago actually there was a statement like this also released by the government saying that there were people who were trying to cause unrest across the country. But now it seems like the target is the Nigerian government. So what does this all appear like to you? Well, it only means that the country is sick. These are symptoms. They are symptomatic of a country that in the words of the Defense Minister of Nigeria is bleeding. So what one expects is for the government of Nigeria to address the issues that are causing these symptoms instead of coming out threatening citizens and trying to to modules free speech and freedom of association. Yeah, but couldn't isn't it possible that they the security for agencies, intelligence agencies have picked up credible information that show that there is a possibility that there's such conversations being had because you've described it simply as trying to module free speech. So is it possible that these intelligence agencies across Nigeria truly have facts that show that there is these things in the plans? There are two statements that have been issued. There's a statement issued by the by the DSS, the Department of State Security, and a statement issued by the presidential spokesman. Both statements speak about the same thing that there is chatter or discussion within the country, but by religious leaders and political actors to declare a vote of no confidence in the president. And I don't see how that is going to to bring down the government. There is no constitutional role for religious leaders or political actors to sit in a meeting or to speak and say they have declared a vote of no confidence and that brings down the government. The only constitutional means that can bring down the current government is if the National Assembly decides to impeach the president. But that is not what is happening. So that is why I believe that yes, if there were intelligence that there is such rumors or there is actually credible evidence that religious leaders and political actors are trying to declare a vote of no confidence in the president, it doesn't really make any meaning because constitutionally that is not possible. But I am saying that the government should should move beyond these threats. Everybody agrees that there is a problem with Nigeria. The defense minister said the country is bleeding. Mr. President himself, when he met with the service chief that I office now, he said the country was in a state of emergency. Even on the economic side, we heard the central bank governor say the country was not doing well, that he wasn't going to lie about it. So we don't need political actors or religious leaders to tell us the truth. The leaders themselves are saying that the country is not doing well. So what the government needs to do is to begin to resolve the issues that are causing this tension, that are causing this anxiety, that are causing this unease in the country. And majorly of these issues are security. As we speak today, we have in more than 100 locations around the country within the sovereignty of Nigeria, Nigerian citizens that have been kidnapped and are being hit hostage by bandits or all sorts of criminals. We have not heard a situation where the Nigerian government has stormed even one of these locations in a bid to free our citizens. We read the reports where an American citizen was seized in Chad and kept hostage in Nigeria. America came from Nigeria to America is maybe 6,000 miles. They came all the way and they took their citizens away. We have Nigerians that are being hit hostage in their own country. And we must see one instance of our security going there, gathering intelligence and finding a way to storm that place and not just storming that place, they either kill or arrest the kidnappers or bandits depending on their choice. We haven't seen this. These are the things that government does that gives confidence to the citizens that something is being done about their plight and not issuance of press statements that are more or less threats. You are threatening and already traumatize people. Of what benefit is that? Mr. Julie, we know that in response to this, the DSS threats, the Presidency statement, the ACF has said that the Presidency has to be more broad-minded in accepting criticism. And they are saying that this criticism is done in good faith. And if the Presidents act on it to be for the betterment of the whole of the country, so how would you assess this President's administration and how tolerant they are of criticism and opposition? The current administration is showing to be intolerant of opposing views. I can tell you, I am sitting now in London, very close to Heathrow Airport. There are radio and TV stations and newspapers in this country, the United Kingdom, that 24-7, they are out speaking against the government. They are looking for one loophole or the other to speak against the government. So speaking against the government, Julie stopped the government from doing its work. Boris Johnson has not thrown his arms in the air and said, look, I can't do anything now because I'm being criticized all over the place. No. Boris Johnson even has an opposition leader, unlike the Nigerian system, where we don't have a shadow cabinet. Boris Johnson is facing a shadow cabinet where the opposition leader, if Boris Johnson has a defense minister, there is a shadow defense minister. And it's an official role paid for by the government so that if the official defense minister makes a statement, the shadow defense minister makes his own statement to say, look, this is how I will do it if you vote me into government and government governance is going on. So the issues here are this. Both the statement of the GSS and the statement of the presidency allude to elections as the only democratic means to bring down the government. But here is a government that has refused to sign the electoral bill. The electoral bill was placed on Mr. President's table in 2015. And he said, look, I can't sign it because it's too close to the 2015 general, sorry, not 2015, 2019. The electoral bill, the immediate electoral bill was placed on his table before the 2019 general elections. And the only reason he gave us Nigerians was that he couldn't sign it because it was too close to the election. But the elections have gone past for almost two years now. So if the president looked us in the face and said, look, I will sign this bill after the elections and two years have gone half of the tenure and he hasn't signed the bill, you can see that he's not being honest with us. And if we don't have a credible electoral process, how do you engender confidence in the citizenry that they can use the electoral process to change the government that they don't like? So this is why I'm saying that the government needs to act on the things that the citizens are complaining about. I'm not threatening them. Okay. Nika Gulay, I wish we had more time, but thank you very much for your thoughts and for being a part of the breakfast this morning. Looking forward to speaking with you again. Yes, thank you and have a great day. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Good morning. This is where we wrap up the program on this beautiful Wednesday morning, the 5th of May. It's been pretty interesting conversations. Thanks to all our guests who joined us and had, you know, a part of the program this morning. If you missed out on any of it, remember to join us on our social media platforms. It's pretty simple at plus TV Africa, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on our YouTube channel also, do join the family over there. There's also the plus TV lifestyle channel that you can also check out and follow. Yes, it's plus TV Africa lifestyle. See you after your lifestyle. Thanks again. I am Annetta Felix. And I am a saugie og boa. The news comes up at 9 a.m. Bye for now.