 Well, we have GD Johnson joining us this morning. Thank you so much. It's still the breakfast on plus TV, Africa Time for us to look through the pages of national dailies. We call it off the press GD, thank you for joining us Same here Travelers resident Stranded as flawed grounds Locosure That's boldly written and not cut off from the South Economic activities told all marketers blame fuel scarcity on situation FRC advices commuters to take alternative routes Suleja, Bida, Mokwa Road for Southwest Nassarua Utupo access for Southeast travelers You know, it's more like an alternative suggestion is Is a serious one? We understand that the issue of floating is a national crisis But this is very critical because of the connection and the link, you know between a certain region of the country That's the not nothing part of the country and the saddened part of the country So you have the nothing part on the saddened part it calls for, you know, a serious concern because it might just be a divider All right, if people cannot move freely and connect from one path to another then that's a big problem Well, that's it on the leadership But just before we move away we'll fight for full return of five billion dollars a batch of loot That's what the president of the federal public of Nigeria president Muhammad the boharis quoted to say and Again, you find man condemns attack Kogi threatens to recover cement company After 12 days in London Tsunubu returns to Nigeria. That's also another one you find and 2023 campaign finance Ionic invokes 50,000 our donation limits, so I mean the limits that should be given to any party 50,000 era But that's it this morning on the leadership. We move away quickly and we have the nation newspaper in front Buhari to military replicate north east Fate a nation-wide and president visits rescued train passengers Train service and a Buja Kaduna route returned soon I'm happy to be back says the flag bearer of the all-progressive Congress Bola Tsunubu line Muhammad PDP clash over corruption claim 2023 budget reps okay's 8.43 trillion era a new borrowing plan and just before move away from the nation you have Ethiopia suspends visa on arrival policy Reavers assembly deletes an ex-governor finder who we're talking about India accuses Jaga of bias in federal government and ask who face off Quite interesting issues right there on the nation. We have the punch PDP crisis our grieved governor's report at equal to BOT list peace conditions ex vice president On post primary promise to we K London deal, that's what the sources quoted to say we came most against articles ally and deletes an ex-governor Article will shock Nigerians win with seven million votes margin. Are you the chairman of the parties? Making the boost of course It's just natural that that should happen federal government reviews the rail security and Buhari meets freed hostages Court rules on asses appeal out of court settlements failed budgets reps justify eight point four trillionaire boring six point three trillionaire debt servicing That's a in 2023 82-year-old French writer wins a Nobel Prize in literature and CBN those bosses over 2 trillionaire to 426 industries and Kogi claims The plant ownership as dangote man kicks Again you find excitement as Bollard to noble returns from the United Kingdom and prepares for campaign Ogun tanker Chased by miscrank explodes free kill 12 vehicles burnt Abuja patrol scarcity possesses federal government blames the Kogi flawed So there's a lot that's going on Well, really saddening and we turn attention to the Nigerian Tribune quickly before We call it a wrap here and have G.D. Johnson share his thoughts on the Nigerian Tribune twist and turns in week is Revers assembly De-recognizes an ex-governor others him to refund 696.5 million within seven days government to a sent document today and Government withdraws criminal charge against Amici and Cole others Why I want to be a laughing at 84 Find out who's stalking the bison at Bishop if you say 14 days after leaving for the United Kingdom Bollard to noble returns to Niger 11 banks shut least that to disbose 350 million dollars Again 2023 budget estimate reps approves 19 point seven six trillionaire total expenditure 8.437 trillion new borrowings and reduce 11.3 trillion fiscal deficit to 10.6 trillionaire approves 1.7 trillionaire fuel subsidy against Senate's 3.6 trillionaire. I mean, there's a lot right here Nigeria has received over 2000 military fighting equipment in seven years That's what Buhari is quoted to say a batch of siphoned five billion dollars to west He says and your youth's protests in Ibadan over EFCC arrest is something that Made the rounds yesterday federal government as a consultation for out-of-court settlement Fails and courts rule on ASUS application today Especially when they are confronting the new faction or new union that has been created To die to our vehicles bond as tanker crashes, you know gun state the headlines are you know a bit to the side and to the other side Not totally You know happy headlines or stories if you like to say but a bit of everything But we have GD Johnson join us straight up to him GD. Thank you so much for being part of the show so let's start off with the issue of the flooding in Kogi state I mean it's a lot that's going on from the pictures of The videos the reports and the feel as they were getting what are your thoughts really? Do you think that this is a man-made situation or it's a natural disaster? Oh You know, because they're going to come to a stage where they were Nigerian, they were Benyans. So you expect to be as you see fit towards addressing this. But what do we do? We want to see the government dancing on social media and being other than taking government. So as far as I'm concerned, God has really been kind towards Nigeria, particularly in Africa. Just imagine if you experience what's called an experience of this type of stuff, this type of thing. In America, experience is the case here. You don't even want to see them. I'm not to say a lot of people will survive because you don't have to. You don't go out to respond to imaginary things. I would just go out to respond to this type of stuff that are going to be better for the past year than the next year, especially Nigeria. Let's get to the elections away from that because it would be a crux of our conversation as we proceed on the leadership newspaper, the 2023 campaign, talking about donations, financial contribution of funding for party. The INEC has invoked 50,000-hour donation as a limit. What are your thoughts on it? 50,000-hour as a limit for donation. Do you think that that's enough? Well, I mean, it's good, it's good, it's good. So can you hear us, please? Unfortunately, we have, again, been disconnected. Some disconnection with GD. We're hoping that we're able to have a connection with him and we continue with our thoughts. GD, just can you hear us? I can hear you. All right, so go ahead with your thoughts. INEC, I see that it invokes, I think there's a provision in the electorate with respect to the minimum and maximum donation that can be made by an individual for a campaign. But I think INEC needs to collaborate with the banks. INEC needs to collaborate. This is where ESU should be much more effective other than focusing more on parading the Nigerian youth that are engaged forward and abroad. I'm not saying they should take their eyes off the board with that, they should do that. But what our attention should be to, people to be taking our national resources. And this is where there should be an interagency collaboration with CBN, with the commercial banks, ESCC, and INEC. We should work together in ensuring that there's compliance with these provisions of the law that limit the certain amount of money that an individual could contribute to add donations to a political party. And also INEC should also ensure that they're looking to the books. I think that part of what should form the business of the election I can be is that the auditing of political parties' accounts. You recall last week, two weeks ago, we were talking about money that some members of the National Working Committee of PTQ wanted to return because it was approved for them by the national chairman. So nobody looks into the accounts of the political party and not properly audited. If you don't properly audit the accounts, how would you be able to ensure that they comply with the provisions of the law with respect to campaign finance regulation? So there should be an interagency. It's important that we don't allow money to influence our election. And we must take steps so that money parks don't like that. But how do you ensure that? We're doing the primary, so that we have a shared electric and center. So I think it should start from the primary step. It should also start from the nomination itself, where she's somewhat being 25 million, 100 million to become a governor or a president. These are areas in which I need to put, if you don't have money, you can't take nomination to run for any party. So it should not be limited to the main election alone. It should start even from the process of picking the candidate so that we can sanitize the process and we can allow people that have integrated but that do not have to resource it, do not have money back supporting them to win an election. And that's the goal and that's the purpose. All right, then, but how do you think that INEC will be able to monitor this and ensure compliance? I mean, so if you say that there's a limitation to how much that can be donated, I don't know if that's for an individual or, you know, for a group, right? But what's the... I'm sure that was before an individual. How can INEC do that is for INEC to do its oversight function. INEC has oversight function in looking into the books of the political party. And INEC cannot do this alone. INEC must work with other agencies of government. You have other agencies of government that INEC needs to collaborate. That's why you have to interact with different agencies. For example, INEC can work with NBC, INEC, which concludes the broadcast media, can work with Rupal, which concludes the print media, and then work with ESCC, ICPC, Central Bank to ensure that the books, the sources of funding for this political party are investigated. There's no way, if you have these interagency dependence and interagency collaboration, that the political party will go scoffing, spending money beyond what is approved or what is allowed by the electoral laws in Nigeria. And that is the best way to do it. INEC on itself cannot do it. INEC will need to work, but the challenge we have in Nigeria is that we don't have interagency collaboration and cooperation. You see, it is during the day of the election that you see ESCC agents parading left, right, and center looking for good buying. Now, you arrest people that are actually giving the money and collecting the money on the field. Who are those that are responsible for bringing out the money in the first place? We are at the sources of this fund. We are at those behind it. You will not see each job, parading one or two or three or four people after that election. Not a single one, but you will release it. All right, so let's look at the PDP issue and you know the crisis in the party now and the punch says that aggrieved governors have reported at equal to the BOT and they have a list of peace conditions now for a party that is a major opposition party in the country. Do you think that they should have been able to get over, you know, gotten over the stage of all of the confusion that's going on in the party? The challenge of PDP, which is also the duty of PDP, we'll check from the section, is about no single individual or groups of individual have absolute control over the party. If you check the history, it's an advantage and at the same time, it's an advantage. It's a party that has all come out and all done. So that's always, you have always seen this type of, you recall even when president of the administration in 2003, when he was running for election, allegedly it was, was allegedly reported that some of the governors were not going to, were not going with him, some of the governors were going with his deputy that is being pressed, they're not to talk of, the party not having to press them now. I'm sure some of these issues will be resolved and if the issues are not resolved, the party will have itself to be blamed and it comes to, because there's no place that can fly with one of it doing. However, as you're having that on one hand, you see the national chairman of the party saying, boldly, that they are going to win with seven million plus votes for the election. I don't know where he's getting the figures from, whether he has already written the result of the election and on the sheet of paper that he wants to declare for himself or whether it's been in a different way from our athletes, both the first vote has not been passed and then they're coming up with the idea that with the figure that you imagine which you used to win. The national chairman should be talking about how to resolve the crisis within his party which are taking a new twist and turn. In reverse, you see that the former governor of reverse state, who happens to be an ally of Antiqua Bakal in the least as former governor of reverse state by the state of assembly and as reported, it's going to sign the instrument confirming that to be. And then you also have a station that is also reported that the additives against Amici coal and the rest of them have been withdrawn by the reverse state government. So I've told you to grab your popcorn, grab your popcorn, look for a pocket of chicken and then ice cream and speak by the ring sign. And enjoy the trauma. We have not been, last week we were talking about the proposal letter from the national chairman of the APC and some members of national housing committees to their presidential candidate which was very mentally denied. But some of the issues that were raised exist in the public domain. So just be ready to enjoy the political trauma. In the political trauma, just catch our course. Well, and just before we call it a wrap-up of the process this morning, let's take a quick look at the budget. I mean, it's expected that there will be a presentation of that budget today being Friday, the 7th of October, 2022. Well, however, the reps have approved 19.76 trillion error as total expenditure and 8.437 trillion error new borrowings. You know, you also have more like reduction from 11.3 trillion error fiscal deficit to 10.3 trillion error. Some people say that that's a good thing. And approval of 1.7 trillion error fuel subsidy against the Senate's 3.6 trillion error. G.D. Johnson, quickly share your thoughts on this one. As far as I'm concerned, it's not just about the budget presentation. It's about the monitoring and tracking. What was the performance of the budget for 2022? I know we are talking about the budget performance in 2023. We're going to have a situation of tracking and monitoring funds that are appropriated for financial year. We also, we always see these figures and government will come and ban these figures to what extent, to what percentage? How many percentage is it? 60% did we do exactly this 2022 budget to 60% or 70% or 80% compliance with what was stated in the deal that was passed by the National Assembly and sent it to by the president. As far as I'm concerned, does he reflect on the cost of living and the standard of living of an average nature? If not about those reduction, it's not about those figures. The budget should be able to reflect on the cost of living and the standard of living on average nature. That's why we begin to talk about budget. And I think moving forward, when the government comes into power, the media should focus more on budget tracking, budget monitoring to ensure that they are compliant with the population. The cost, it is part and our sentence is an act of the parliament. So if you don't comply with the act of the parliament, it's unimpeachable of it. It's unimpeachable of it. So we must ensure that the instrumentality of the states has used to ensure compliance with whatever provisions you have made in the appropriation bill that is approved as an assented to by the president after the passing by the National Assembly. That's what I'm interested in. What we have been seeing is just figures, figures, figures, figures that does not have any effect on the lifestyle over the next 19 years. Well, Jide Josse, thank you so much. We appreciate your thoughts this morning on the front pages of our National Dailies. We look forward to sharing more with you on Friday. That's nice to be... Well, thank you once again for joining us this morning on the show. We take a break, but just before that, break, let's quickly tell you what happened today in history, been the seventh day in October. Stay with us.