 We're still on with the breakfast and plus TV Africa is time for off-the-press now usually we take time to look through the pages the front pages to be precise of a national dailies and then we have a guest join to make sense of some of the headlines Chris Cain de Wando joins us this morning I mean he's joining us for the first time in 2023 Chris is good to have you join us good morning and happy new year I hope you had a wonderful you know holiday and celebration I did and I can see that going on your face too well thank you let's quickly start off with the nation newspaper the nation says let her or Boston Joe is jealous frustrated says presidency I mean you know how the nation you know sometimes put out there the headlines quite interesting underneath wiki ex-presidents endorsement of will be a stain on article of course there will be a lot of tongues that would wag and backing for late labor presidential candidate in consequential I'm sure you want to find out who's saying all of that now please confirm transfer of men from a job division following the debt and the killing of Bola Bola leader a man I think the CP had taught that he should transfer you know all of the men from a job division but that doesn't sound the problem that's not the point I think the Nigerians are asking for a total reform you know of the system Nigerians on Nigeria raises concern over the increasing COVID-19 cases in China so just when we have gotten to a point where we say oh we're relaxing all of the protocols no more face marks it's not nice necessary it's very compulsory you have to word if you want to word for other reasons but you're not under any obligation to wear that funeral rides begin for Pelle of course that legend that died football legend one third of the world may slip into recession in 2023 IMF is warning and got help us that were not part of you know one of this economy that was slip into recession to the bull insist patrol subsidy must go but a lot of economic expert and even ordinary Nigerians have said it's fine to say subsidy should go but we need also need to pay attention to you know the state of our refineries we need to stop the whole you know process of having to import our crude because we lack or we have decided not to refine our crude not because we don't have the capacity but there's no willpower to do all of that now on the punch is what we're looking at now we turn attention to the punch the punch says auntie Buhari letter presidency lambas former president shagun Abbas and Joe says ex-presidents government corrupts Abbas and Joe sold 3.2 billion dollar ours con other assets for peanuts and remove governments governors are vitrarily ex-president deceived southeast with second Niger bridge Buhari completed it you also have you know another rider saying a former president hypocrites plotting third term interim government through OB APC and PDP quoted to say I mean that's so interesting but like I stated earlier on during our top trending I think this is natural external reserve fell by 3.4 billion dollars in 2022 this is according to reports mobile subscription increased by 23 million now 218 million which also you know is in connection with the population of Nigeria I mean according to recent statistics you need to know that numbers have increased power generation crashes by 990 megawatts and Gensko lost 1.8 trillion Naira that is a lot national assembly budget 850 million for failed Constitution amendment now it feels like every other time we're not able to continue because I don't think the 9th assembly of course very eminent that they won't be able you know to go ahead with the constitutional process and so there needs to be a transfer and that's why there's a budget for it again under punch newspaper you find a DPO transfer transferred as please redeployed corpse that's what you find there G5 governors Adam and set for marketing days campaign a delicate fumes as Oye Tola insists tribunal was sac governor this is some of the headlines you find this morning on the nation now we have the leadership it's been made available by paper vendor unsettled by Obasan just letter presidency hits back now have you ever thought about this what if the support you know was on the other side it was the other way the table had turned and then the you know former president was supporting the APC you're probably supporting you know the PDP would there be sounding this way so his ex-president represent dark days of Niger's democracy can't stand a better leader campaign cancel trades words or with content of letter opposition jittery over sign of victory that's what tinnable is saying okay nobody can stop election in Southeast I pop declares ex-emo governor escapes as gunman Q4 please orderlies FCT native six integration of 858 communities and just before move away from the leadership now and there's also you know convoy attack where tambourine vows to bring perpetrators to book and FIRS unveils instant tax clearance certificates like he put open stocks with liquid bog terminals for phase 2 development now I did not frustrate zoning of PDP tickets to south that's what we case saying I don't think we think that you know you happy to be here this you know in the label party because the likes of a tickle for street at him out of the party we turn attention now to the Daily Sun newspaper quickly on the Daily Sun quite different but almost similar with some of the headlines on all the papers this morning underage voters parents rigs arrests how did we even get to a point where we're even saying there will be a system I mean the consideration the thoughts that on their age would vote so we will get to point away on arrest them it just tells a lot about you know the system and the entire process Supreme Council for Islamic affairs set standards for elections that's what you find on the Daily Sun newspaper and obese endorsement presidency accusers from a president Olisha going to bar sing of always attacking Buhari out of frustration so they are saying is an angry bird fresh so they put so be ahead of a tickle and tinnable well that's a survey you know that we're talking about people going out to cast your votes a lot of persons have not gotten their PVC's and it's important that they should be factored in okay we K tons a tickle accuses ex-vice president of Australian zoning and PDP and just before we move away killing in Lagos CP redeploys the police officers in the station no respect for motorist consumers as fuel scarcity persists transport fare keeps increasing another says please and gone battle with hoodlums and rescue three kidnap victims in Delta quite commendable talking about rescue mission of three kidnap victims in Delta were cholera kills eight in a boy gunman attack ex-emo governor's convoy and killed four security aides these are some of the headlines find this morning on the Daily Sun Chris many thanks for joining us thank you once again for having me I like us to start off with the nation newspaper the caption about a former president's jealousy and the fact that he's frustrated and that's the reason why you know he's probably endorsing pita b this is what the president is saying there are too many reactions uh you know following this endorsement yeah this is just as rightly said uh what would happen if uh of us and your heart there and does the candidature of uh ashua jubbalat metinubu the candidates of the hippies that would they have come out to uh to rant the way they did don't think they would like uh once you can take away from us and you start to write from time in my local balance what was the right from him or that's uh from time in the area it'll be very consistent in when it comes to the issue of this take our viewers back to as far back as 1979 when it was the military head of states and um to act the handover to civilian government uh his government uh uh some people believe that obama sanjo was something supported the candidature of the national party of manjir and the mp uh person of the shihu shagari and um shihu shagari depicted the likes of obama was a war in nambia ziki way of the mpb vasee bram he got him back before uh that uh was to be put by the mormon for a government uh in 1983 or about then in 1999 he came back as civilian president and he was elected twice while he was living office he endorsed the candidature of um 80 year ago and in fact during that addition before that uh program is uh PDP uh most people believe that from a governor of um of um rivasted uh he thought that he was going to be the candidate from the program of the PDP then and uh until uh a passenger pulled the drug off him and excited because um the niragran niragran was sick um later on of course he had no choice when um niragran died gulo genata took over and in 2015 this same person instead of supporting don't forget that at the point uh it was the end of that thing that fell out to gulo genata and his policies was consistent he consistently uh was uh i guess that government that was time of this letter writing when he decided to become a publisher and writer of letters and he endorsed this very president in 2015 and um not everybody uh even those in government then were shocked by his uh endorsement because he was a member of the PDP then uh it was at that point that he said he's no longer a member of any political party that he wants to become a statesman but in does and i remember this same government uh if he's in an opposition party and uh uh a uh to seek an endorsement which he did but in 2019 he fell out with quarry again and endorsed article so that has been the trajectory of um um so you can't take away that from him it is is right as a Nigerian to endorse anybody but the issue is that in his endorsement they could put any weight and they'd be able to swear the feelings of Nigerians to swear good for the candidate of his choice that is also i think that the government should just focus on the message and not the message that they continue to attack on a person just for making his free choice it's just a presidential for me and i think that the president's through this spokesperson or split persons of the president should just focus on the message do you think that all of this endorsement i mean we've had uh you know the conversations with the g5 governors and their intention whether or not to endorse you know a certain presidential candidate ahead of the elections in february um does he is does he you know is he of any importance especially when we know that you know you are entitled to just one vote so all of these governors will just have to cast just one vote not two not three so i like to share your thoughts this pattern of endorsement in our democracy does he have any significance does he is a worthy of um our conversation endorsement is a universal uh political process across the globe not just like you remember even in the united states you see when obama wanted to there are certain celebrities endorsed him before that even who have died in including uh former president demon that that uh the biden took over um so it is not in new um yes it has some level of aspects that has not been measured in the interest rate i'm here to see a survey that will see that so just before that because somebody was endorsed by saturday because um because of that he was going to yes they have one vote that some of them also have some influence they can also influence some people to go by the other way um it's just like uh in my hope i decide to vote for a particular candidate and um that is it i have um i have the way and manner that i can i can co-ask my wife if i'm going to vote for this particular party must follow me if i'm good for that but the party's not as much as co-ask her it will get to the polling board she's going to go into the polling board so i wouldn't even know whether she listened or not so those are the issues as it's where but um endorsement is not in new and how that is going to influence the election as far as i'm concerned i don't know but there are big instances where there have been a lot of endorsements and at the end of it i just see realize that um the candidates some of these people it used to be it used to host where in the past when some certain military uh former military head of state or certain military leaders we are seen as the uh what we like called them the apex of those that determine what happens yes well then uh in the 70s and 80s yes when when they come together they decide who is going to be the president of Nigeria is respective of how we vote that person will become the president but the current dynamics of politics voting uh coupled with the clincher the beavers that we have now i doubt if anybody can totally include the people are praying now to be able to vote and i'm sure that they're going to spend to cancel whether yes it's a moral poster for anybody that gets such endorsements if not why is it that they see that all the presidential candidates visit um i bb in uh in minna uh all of them are particularly all the major ones actually go metinugu who be all of them visited the i bb it doesn't have any level of influence then they wouldn't have visited them they also visited abu salam abu baka some visited abas and former head of state and at a point you can see that everybody was shuffling to have the endorsement of good logic not and both the apc and the bdp as well it has some level of influence that whether that to me self can determine the outcome of the election in gen 2 definitely i can tell you that it's not solid nigerians that would determine that and that is why the candidates to go out and can pass and tell nigerians what they can do for them so that they can be able to look at their programs manifestos and be able to determine who the thing is best for them in gen three okay so under daily sun newspaper the independent national electoral commission that's inek has said that underage voters and parents of all ineligible voters will be arrested for aiding and abating electoral fraud in the 2023 general elections i mean is this not an abnormally that we're talking about underage for me i think it's just passing the book who registered underage protest because they're not in the officials so we are talking that we are saying that to push their parents to be arrested where we are they when they were registered they didn't they see that they were underage so that to me doesn't make any sense if you are going to the problem sorry from the root you uproot the root consistently over the years since 1999 that being underage but especially they're not a part of the political and that has been consistent with political leaders in the north especially and inek you can advance with inek which is when the student go to register why didn't you stop them from registering you see children as as good as 10 years nine years 11 years and getting registered and you see them finding out in their thousands and millions to vote especially in the north now you are going to say that uh anybody that's caught the parents are you going to do that what capacity do you have what political means do you have to do that what we should be doing is making sure that these children are not registered and so that they will stop them from the inek in itself said it sometime ago that they don't have the capacities of to stop these children from being registered so why are you not coming at the answer i think it's just inek they know what to do and why they're ready for that now another interesting conversation still on the daily song is the fact that the lego state police command has transferred all personnel at the aja police station uh you know following the death of two Nigerians triggered happy police officers and so do you think that this solves the problem of police brutality and happy trigger killers in your back as there's something you call la pa la pa i don't know messy if you don't just see me and i'd like to yes uh la pa la pa what is because that anyway that's it it's kind of uh that damn drops again some sort of sand down drop on the head and you see that somebody's having a headache and uh somebody's trying to propose to the show for la pa la pa that is of the problem the uh the transfer of the miss men um from that station to other stations will not solve the problem the issue is that even in that transfer one they want to pollute the other people in other police stations we have a holistic solution to this problem of consistent killings of Nigerians by the Nigerian police or to we do the need by making sure that most of these perpetrators and most of these police men who start trigger happy to snuff out the life of Nigerians at every single opportunity are dead to it and when i say that they're dead to it that they are sticking to God and properly even the necessary solution by being sentenced if they are sentenced to death if they are not to appear they will be hanged um that is it they'll be executed i i'm a graduate of law i i know very much about the only official like this and i know that i call the glue the issue of um uh capital punishment i have been abolished and then been abolished and being cumbersome but the fact that the way and manner our security agents and some of our uh some criminals in our society go about it is which we that is not only the police also even those that into criminality and killing the bandits the kidnappers and the rest of them we have to start testing this like a good our um correctional centers of prison and see the number of people that have been sentenced to death are just um feeding up Nigeria to be shocked some killed their wives some killed their husbands some killed children some raped their rape people to death just yesterday alone now you've seen the report we are some criminal uh undesirable elements keep for policemen and the convoy or the former governor of new moon state uh i came i just had it again and i was a killing in uh part of an umbrella yesterday where the presidential president general of a time union was also assassinated when you got where we police do their job and get out the secret agencies do their job let's take you arrested take them to court and the sentence to death our governors are so doing darling they continue to be darling in it or let on to make sure that most of these people are brought to vote and make you face the consequences of their action we'll continue to have you in the united state we are talking about democracy and human rights people are being put on the on the electric chairs there are some states in the united states irrespective of whatever the constitution or what the appropriate state is certain for us those states go for capital punishment and if you are um you are giving a capital your sentence to death and you resort or you resort all your other avenues for each appeal you get executed so that is part of that whether that will solve the problem with the best and we will continue to make sure that most of these people behind this uh and that also goes back to our recruitment system how do we recruit our policemen who are the people that will recruit just recently three days ago another 10 000 new policemen were added into the court what level of uh exercise they do they do take due diligence to recruit them part of the recruitment system for me would have been making sure that um uh traditional rollers in the various villages are part of the uh nomination system that we know those that our character group character not police a police uh the police that's just wayward and people that have no job most of the people you see taking off police job and frustrated people who have practically nothing to do and no other option not because they love the job but because they just do people and ends to amaze and when you get them recruiting the system you become an issue and periodic training is also very key uh those are the issues that may transfer or for this thing for me would solve the problem less um you know we probably might just coast down uh with this one it's about the fact that you have the national assembly are locating for 20 23 850 million for constitutional men the amendment process that has failed i mean it's something that's been going on uh that's on the punch if i'm not mistaken uh another has been allocated let's not forget that over the years one billion are has been allocated and since 2011 if i'm not also mistaken this has been continuing i mean this has been ongoing so i mean at what point do we get to a point where we review our constitution and stop all of this waste of resources yes i agree i agree with you so i just i am the school of thought that what we did is a total review of the constitution not just a constitutional review in piece name um that is for me and would have gotten that right at the last constitutional conference that we had and that we are so many uh the solution we have passed and um if we have taken that would have been a giant leap for us but this government when it came in refused to endorse that because as an opposition party then they were not part of the uh that process um review the constitution in piece mail review the constitution the way it is um the 1999 constitution has amended um the process of reviewing that constitution is very very difficult if the national assembly on its own part um reviews certain sessions of the constitution and the 36 states of the houses of assembly to thought of that refuse to endorse that partially then it becomes a problem and that is the issue we have now we know that there are some certain reviews some sessions of the constitution is reviewed and passed on to these state houses of assembly most of those state houses of assembly have refused to pass that and if you don't get to thought of the states houses of assembly endorsing those amendments then it is good it's as good as not doing anything so and part of those amendments includes autonomy of local government judiciary and rest of them and you know how the governors are so um they are adverse to that the autonomy of um the local government which they have seen as their own cash cow because every revenue coming from the federal force goes that goes to the local governments the the governors hijack that and dispense as they like so that's the part of the issue as it were so but I am on the school of thought that we should have a much more holistic uh overview of that constitution that was ended up the same way the people of 90 that was the opening of that 1999 constitution that who are the me there are just few generals in the army that um with one or two civilians who came together and wrote their constitution and passed it to us on to we have a constitution that is of Nigeria by Nigerians then we continue to go around this issue so and don't forget the problem also is that once the this national assembly goes they have to start all over again that the next national assembly cannot continue from where they stop and that has always been part of the problem any of the bills um that was not completed uh that is not complete by this current national assembly to start the second all over again that the last one is the fact that when they are passed another problem is when will the president ascend to it attempt to just have both of these meals and laws passed by the national assembly when he gets to get rid of the president he has refused to sign them so those are the part of the system we are looking at and well that's why we continue to advocate for the pollution of power so that also the state needs on their own can have certain powers over certain issues especially when we talk about uh resources uh resource control and the rest of them that will help us a lot there's access to it that's it will not be just circling as it's where and um no matter how much you give people to budget at the end of it all and not be paid the necessary and then have to put out well so i i mean there's a lot of you know issue especially when we have to every other you know budget circle are located a certain amount uh for the process that you know never gets to see the light of day and then we continue just like you have mentioned so if we have the night assembly that's already been budgeted for because they already know that they can live up to expectation is there really a will um you know to ever review the constitution or even amend the constitution as it has been mounted and been put in papers is there really a will as a people i mean when we say a people we know that um it's not just limited to you and i but you have the political gladiators who occupy you know offices at different points whether they are lawmakers or be it you know you know governors and what have you it's that really a will to do to review this constitution to some extent to me there are some will but in fact don't forget also that forget the fact that they are also interest they are interest and we are the interest drawn contrary to the interest of some of the people in our policy that because it becomes a problem and also those are the national assembly so um if it does don't remember what happened the electoral act when it was amended there are a lot of issues uh that we had the issue of delegates the issue of those that agree to you remember that the foreign that came with that amendment it cost a lot of a problem now i personally would have thought that the basic issues that consignment we are we are not taken into consideration by this current amendment led by the deputy president of the of the of the senate um look at the issue of state police if we have gotten that right then we'll not be where we are today even most of the governors agree to that but the national assembly looked the other way it did not talk about the issue of state policing that's for them because we are looking at those that consign them those that have a direct uh and which is why uh some of the state houses of assembly seem to have grow uh grow uh codefeeds on this matter there are some policies there is political real but the fact is that i can just see this through uh most of them um at the national assembly who are representative look at this i may make from two perspective one the political parties they support and secondly where they are duopoly where they are coming from there is a lot of between the senators from the south and the north on most issues um on the table and on to the group themselves from looking themselves as i am from the south and from the north and from seeing themselves as being a part of the ruling party and opposition they were not going to get anywhere so personal and self-interest should be uh jettison for national good and national good that it should be our their responsibilities that should be whatever they should be more nationalistic in their in their outlook rather than being personalized or see themselves as i live with those that can really enjoy whatever or to be able to see themselves as Nigerians and working for the same for the same purpose and unity then mess you can rest assured that not to become a talk that those amendments those are the issues that we are at but i will say as i will say we can have a total review of that constitution i don't know how we're going to go about it but i will get certain people to elected constituted assembly or whatever what a holistic rather than a peaceful look at that constitution but let's let's also remember that even the advanced country that are living about 200 years i was so i'm hanging here at united states people did not take the mastery i mean um should we not uh just like you have mentioned that we probably might have you know political will but there's also a case of interest and how can we you know arrest and address this issue of interest can he be also addressed by the law should there be you know a legal framework to all of this where you we can actually you know get it out because it feels like we will continue this whole um you know cry of saying we're going to amend the constitution or we're going to you know have a constitutional review and never have it i mean uh vividly you have made reference to the Jonathan's administration of 2014 to be very precise the confab and it wasn't implemented because you know you have interesting uh a lot of persons were not represented which if you look at it critically wasn't really the case so how do we address the issue of interest and with the constitutional review let's say um in the court uh what we call a judiciary as well for judicial interpretations most often than not the the court or the judiciary has the right um of amending constitution they don't have that right it's making laws it's the exclusive right of the legislation that is why we have three arms of government executive judiciary and legislative um executive is to execute those laws the judiciary is doing them and the legislature has to make the law they cannot that power of legislation cannot be taken over by the judiciary all they can do is interpretation which is why we are saying that where does it this as we have currently uh in most of the ones of the about the tribunal and that is where the judiciary 99.9 percent of those laws if not 100 percent are mostly made by the legislative and they are the only one that are constitutionally approved given the mandate to make laws so they can they are the one that can make and where does a conflict then the judiciary will come in and interpret no but um i think chris i'm not sure you got my question i'm not saying that you know the judiciary should be involved or intervene or that's not the consideration i'm saying can we actually you know get to a point where we see if you get a certain assembly coming if you start a process then it is mandatory that you have to come complete it of course that's also another making of law somebody has to make that law it probably has to be an executive order something just to check the excesses of you know the lawmakers that's that's what i'm looking at yeah yes we can but you have to know the front you have to know how not making how how not making say for example you know there's a time in our political life that um um the issue of election petition uh election tribunals and elections obviously took so long you could take the life of a of a of a a government four years for one to be great report to just to hear by the mandate but through the amendment we were able to say that a time frame was there was a cap on the number of days that's an election um petition can go through from the tribunal to the supreme court and also even those that are coming uh with those petitions have a time frame to file their petitions if that time lapses you cannot file again so we're able to bring that but when it comes to law making it goes beyond that because we have to know the processes one when it comes as an executive uh as an executive uh uh yes comes from executive or from the NGOs or whatever the issue remains that there's a process that you go through first second third reading i'm going into uh where you have to invite people to come and make their uh you what to call hearing and rest of them and i've also told you that yes um we we also have situation where even once in least the national assembly of the state houses of assembly it becomes a problem because no plan no cap um we didn't have a cap as to when this process can go through at the state house and you know the issue the only issue we have as far as the constitution we consider if that bill is transmitted to president or the federal republic commander and he was not able to sign that he has a time frame to which he can be able to say it doesn't i'm as i'm signed that um that uh i meant or that bill i was okay chris chris we have to go now he can be retorted to the national assembly for them but i totally agree that we can put a cap to it but whether we can be able to do that um is what i don't understand that we need a serious amendment and if not a good start all right look at the constitution there are so many things um within that constitution that is not working and we have to go where we are today all right chris thank you so much uh the thing is we'll definitely continue to talk about these issues until you know we get to a point where we can actually be proud of our democracy as a country thank you so much chris came in wonder for being with us we appreciate you thank you very much and i will wish you a beautiful 2020 and same to all our viewers everyone that you too uh that's it we take a break and when we return we'll be looking at you know some concerns very issues uh serious issues especially with the education sector a tendency that we probably might just have a drift where our teachers would be moving away from niger if that's the case where does that leave us as a people and of course the issue of the brain drain for doctors still aren't going please stay with us as we come back