 Ahead of the June governorship elections in Iquiti State, aspirants of the People's Democratic Party have rejected what Congress to elect ad hoc delegates while the APC postponed its primary elections to pick flag bearer. We take a look at the build-up to the elections in Iquiti State. Still on the breakfast this morning away from Iquiti State, elections Tech Point Africa is a digital media company that amplifies the best innovations out of Africa through its publications, data and events focused on innovations provided by Tech Point Africa in Nigeria. We'll also be looking through today's papers and analyzing the big stories of the day. It's a beautiful Tuesday morning. Welcome to the breakfast. If you're going to be back on your screen this morning, I am a messier before. And I'm Kofi Bartels, thanks for joining us on what triumphs is to be a thrilling addition of Breakfast Mercy. Good morning to you. Good morning. Looking fabulous as always. Same as you. I can't wait to get to the trending stories, especially what we have to talk about the last one. Wanda Chaldeverein. Of course. It's usual. We said the conversation with top trending conversations. Stories making the rounds across board. And the first on the list this morning we'll be looking at the fact that the Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum has resigned. Saliu Lukman resigns as the APC Governors Forum DJ. And this is coming on the heels of the controversy surrounding the planned convention. Now some people say that prior to this time when the governors had meetings, they had talked about his resignation asking that he should resign. But one thing you need to know about Lukman is that he's been very strong on his position about the delay of the convention. He's constantly talked about the fact that the ketika committee delaying the convention was not anything good for the APC. And so all of that. Now we haven't seen the letter, however, of his resignation. But a lot of people think that it's connected to the convention on all of the controversies surrounding it. Yeah. For me, I'll follow the conversation online and on air. I'm wondering what the hula-baloo is. Permit my use of the word. With the Director General of a Governors Forum. He is just an administrative personnel for that Governors Forum. And does it really matter? Because it's about the politicians. If he resigns, they'll get someone to stand in for him. So I wonder what the hula-baloo is. Of course the APC have had their issues with the convention and the divisions within the party and the People's Democratic Party saying, you know what? We're daring you. Go and hold your convention. Let's see if we can even put something together. But I think maybe the political watchers will want to see what plays out because the Governors have been meeting. Now some people think that Suleiman Lukman has been very, very, very, very great in terms of his contribution towards the development of the APC policies. And some of the states that the APC controls in Nigeria. So a lot of that. But like you mentioned, I mean, it's a big deal. What's going on? But for me, I would always say that interest would always play. So wherever the interest is not serving, I mean, the Governors will probably say, hey, step down because you're not serving our interest. And he could also resign on the basis that his interest also has not also been conceded. So however, this is politics and the political. Yeah, I mean, for those who are saying, you know, of course, Suleiman's contributions to the party to ensure that they continue to consolidate on the gains of the all-progressives Congress, especially across the straight states in the country. And the real people that matter to me. And the Governors. Politicians, the Governors. And the role of Governor Mai Malabuni, you know, cannot be overemphasized in ensuring that the APC spreads his tentacles. I mean, now the party has, you know, once a foothold in the South-South. It was never the case before. We all know what happened when they went to Government House, Cross River State. And of course, I had the Governor of Cross River State they come and move to the APC, you know. So I think the Governors have this on lockdown, you know. These are the power brokers of the party. So very valid, very valid. I mean, the point you have actually raised is very valid because some people also have crewed why you have Suleiman Lukman as the DJ. Why? Is he a Governor? What is he doing there? Because people would say, if you have the Governors Forum, then it should be a point where you have Governors networking from the same political party. So what business does he have, you know, being in that particular spot? But however, you can also take out the fact that he's relevant, his contribution and what have you. But interest would always come through. I mean, that's what politic is. Because politics is about interest. Interest is politics. And that would continue. So where in a situation where your interest is actually not being served, or your interest does not represent the interest of the party at the end of the day, then you could be kicked out. It's possible you should be. Some people are also arguing that in Nigeria, nobody resigns, your only pressure to resign. That might just be the case for you. That's not a bad point. Did he actually resign? Was he pressured to resign with that? Because I mean, if I were the DJ of such a political party, I'll be thinking of the perks of... I mean, you're looking at the politicians. They are the ones who have interest. No, but I think because he's been very vocal about some issues, and maybe that's not even playing well. This is me just saying, playing well and sitting well with the governors. And so it's possible to just say, who are you again? Excuse me. You're a governor. And that's the case. But like you rightly mentioned, they have it on lockdown. Let's see how things pan out for them. Indeed, indeed. Of course. Well, shoot anyone who tries to attack the prisons. It's what the Minister of the Interior, Rovira Beshola, has asked the prison officers to do. Should there be any prison attacker that tries to attack the Nigerian prisons? I mean, it's been an issue in the past with the attacks by our non-government and other persons, even in the north, with the terrorists attacking prison formations in the country. The one that really strikes fresh in my memory is the one that occurred in Oweri, the Imusei capital, because all the facilities close to the prison are near where you have the government house, and you also have the police headquarters. We also remember what happened in Edo state during the period around where you had the Ansar agitations, where there was a prison break. And so we've been having these prison breaks, and most recently another one that was really, really well-publicized. So a statement issued by the spokesman, media advisor to the Minister of Interior and former governor, Arreg Beshola, says that the Minister gave the order while inspecting the Agodi custodial center any battle now. Some people feel this is a bit harsh, while some people feel, you know, you have to meet force with force. So shoot anyone that attacks the prisons. So, but now this is actually an instruction coming from a minister asking that people should go ahead encouraging extra judicial killing. And it's that what we want for democracy, don't we have a system that should check all of the excesses? I mean, why do we even have to? Are we saying that we're not even capable enough that we don't have a system and intelligence to put out to withstand these attacks? Because it sounds like we're very overwhelmed, and we're saying that's an organized structure. That's not a forest. The prisons exist in a particular location, and that's number one. And then you have a location. So what happens to intelligence? What happens to ensuring that these people don't come to the facility to attack the facility? So I really don't know if that's very logical. I don't know how a minister would wake up and give an order in a 20... Isn't that what Nigerians need to hear? Needs to hear? Yeah. That you wake up and encourage the people to go ahead and shoot at random? No, he's not saying people should shoot at random. I've listened to comments on this, especially online. And now that Twitter is back, people have found their voice, or let's say they have found their wings. No pun intended. But why would you go attack a prison facility? The minister used the word. He called it red zone. He says it's a red zone. So if it's a security zone, you also need to act with the column. I mean, have you tried using your phone at a military checkpoint before? I understand all of that. But I don't think that that's a justification. I don't think that that's a justification for a minister to give an order that... Because that would be encouraging the offices. Okay, so this is what we're saying now. Get to a checkpoint. And somebody is acting extra. Just shoot. And you know the campaign that we're pushing against, and you know the campaign that's on against police brutality, and how we're asking that people should be civil in their conduct. Why should we even allow... Because it actually just looks like we're not very structured enough. We have been overwhelmed by this man, or not gone man, and we cannot decipher. We can use intelligence and order, security tactics or strategy to win. Win over the specimens or capture them, however the case is. And then you're asking. As much as it sounds like it's a good idea, but I think that that's not very... It's not very... You have a point. You have a point as regards the human rights angle. And people have stated this as well. Now listen to quite a number of commentators, especially the human rights community in Nigeria, talking about the safety of life, extrajudicial killings and all of that. But the fact that you... What if you were just looking around? Looking around is... No, I must say looking around, you were just looking around. Oh, lurking, yeah. Okay, so you have this on two-faced heads. Those who will be trying to breach the security of these military, prison facilities or correctional centres from outside, and those who will try to breach the security from inside, basically the prisoners who want to escape. Now, I think that if it's about the prisoners escaping, then of course, shoot to kill may not be too ideal. You can try to capture them from the inside. From the inside. But if it's about external attacks, you mean, why would you go attack a prison facility? Well, you know, like in some of the movies, because I think that maybe we... We had to learn all of that from some of the movies that we see. Of course, you have prison break and all of that. It usually would not just work. There's a local panence that says, the rats inside, outside cannot come without... No, you don't say it. You don't say it. I mean, you don't say it well. You don't say it well. No, what I'm trying to say here is that... Now, rats with the house. Hey, hey. Now you invite rats outside. Thank you. So it's not possible. So first of all, we need to look inwards. I mean, that's so rash. Do you even think... Are they even empowered enough to go ahead and shoot? And what have you? I'm thinking that there are other ways, you know, to solve these issues. The human right angle, like we have mentioned. We can't behave. We can't constantly act in a different way and expect a different result in a democratic setting. But why would you go... I mean, if anyone... For instance, we're talking about the bastion of democracy. How would somebody want to get to the prison? That's number one question. We're talking about the bastion of democracy, the United States of America, for instance. Try attacking an American embassy. You carry gun. Say you won't go attack. Try attacking an American embassy and see what will happen. You don't want to hear whether or let's try and capture him to see if he's deranged or whatever. But also, you also want to ask that this order should be coming from the minister. That's also another question you should ask. He's a minister of interior. Okay. I'll give you an example. The British citizen who attacked a synagogue in Texas, you know he freed all his captives. Okay. What happened to him? I mean, there have been several situations where there's a hostage takeout. There's a terrorist. He goes into a mosque or he goes into a church or goes into a school. And maybe they're able to free the captives, but they decided to take out the person. So this is what I think. As much as that sounds very logical, as much as that should be what it should be, I think that we have decided to take the position of being very reactive every time things happen. And that's on that premise that we're having the minister, Raul Farouk Beshala saying, shoot whoever you find around trying to attack the facility, which is very reactive. So why don't we get to the other side of the divide and be proactive and put up measures and ensure that our prisons are safe. This time we never had a time where prisons were attacked. So where are we getting it wrong? What's going on? Why can't we have the intelligence? Could it be that we have an inside job, as people would say? Is there a collaboration? What is going on? So this is some of the questions. As much as we would say, if we have to defend our democracy, then I'm thinking that we really don't have the tool that way, really. It's very rash. That's my thought. I agree. I agree. You know, the fact that we need to have intelligence, gathering mechanisms that can at least forestall these attacks and predict when they would happen and all that, but even sometimes the best of intelligence, gathering systems do not work. If it were so, we would not have had 9-11. Yeah. So sometimes you won't see it coming. You know, sometimes you won't see it coming. And you have to act decisively, especially when you notice that you might be overwhelmed. Okay? No, that's why I climbed. That's why I climbed. Have you been to prison before? That's very... Have you been to prison before? I have been to African prison. Yeah, okay, fine, fine, fine, fine. But the thing is this, yeah, sometimes the prison facilities may not be as heavily armed and equipped to withstand a heavy attack, you know. They may just have, you know, weapons and all that. How many are there? Do they even have the weapons to shoot? They do. Are you sure? Oh, yes, yes, yes. They are known gunmen. Let's even go by the statement. Let's even agree that it's fair that people should shoot anyone you find trying to attack the prison, according to the order from the minister. Do they even have what it takes to shoot? How many bullets can they put out? They do, they do. But the thing about, yeah, they have weapons. No, that's right. But the thing about it is it's, you know, do they have enough ammunition to withstand a large attack? But we're saying one at the same thing. Yeah, good. So instead of waiting to... Be attacked. Because the person who is coming with weapons, is it coming to drink tea with you? You know, the person who is coming with weapons, is he coming to drink tea? He's not going to say, oh boy, how far now? He's coming for you. If it's an unknown gunman, if it's a terrorist, if it's a bandit, they want to get in there and get their guys out. So in medicine, they would say that, they call it preventive, and I'm saying that we should throw the line of preventive. Let's not get to that part where we have to react, shoot anybody. Let's stop them from coming. I mean, they would say the best form of attack is defense. So why don't we build up the defense and not allow these persons... It should also be like you can't even attack the embassy. Just the same, the thoughts of you wanting to attack the embassy, you know what you're going to be faced with. Anyways, we need to move away from that. Still part of the top trending. Let's see how things actually pan out. Make sure you are very careful if you have to visit anyone in the prison, especially if you... Because you could just be sure. It's attack. The word is attack. The word is attack. So what if you open your boots? Have you thought about that? You pack your car, and you're trying to bring out something. I don't think the minister... It looks like a threat. I don't think the minister is saying, shoot anybody who is around. No. So I'm just creating a scenario where you pack your car. Probably you have to go visit an inmate. And then you open your car. It feels like you're being very hostile. Attack. Attack is... No, it could actually be seen as an attack. I think I get where you're coming from. And I think I also get your concerns. Initiability concern of every... The tendency of our security agencies and our uniformed men to be excessive, to go over and above, and to abuse certain privileges and rights given to them. So definitely they need to proceed with caution. And maybe the minister should have used a bit more different words. But let's see how we have a plan. I'm interested in your next story. No, I know you're very interested. So on top chart this morning, groom allegedly impregnates event planner. So does this... How does that even happen? ...child that I've been asking myself, could it be fiction? So someone took to Twitter, Tiger Twitter is... I mean, the ban has been lifted. So we have our voices again. And so let me read the tweet for you. So we have... We're having a big issue at the moment. Event planner is pregnant for the groom as we speak. Man is terrified and no one can reach him at the moment. The bride resides in the United Kingdom when the groom resides in Nigeria. God help us. Always God would have to help us for all of the confusion and the nonsense that we cause. And then we call God to help us. So in my mind, when I saw the story, I laughed at it. And I was like, could it be another fiction? Could it be that someone is very excited and they pull up on that story? How can these things be? Do these things really happen? So these are some of the questions that's been popping up in my head. But what do you think? You know, it's one of the things that make you say, oh, I thought I'd seen it all. I thought I'd seen it all. I mean, just start with how the groom end up getting involved to such an extent with the event planner. She's an event planner. And you know the event planners usually deal not just with the groom, but with the women as well, a lot with the brides. And sometimes the bride will be the one to say, okay, I like that planner. I think we should go with her. I like this one. You know, we guys are sometimes we're too serious for our good. So it means that the bride obviously knows this lady. So how does that happen? I mean, I'm a man and I can't really wrap my head around it. So like I said, I have a lot of questions popping up, but it's just some people would say the fact that she's away. Like you mentioned, it's possible because we're trying to we don't have all of the information. I mean, the story. So we're just trying to paint a scenario. So there's a tendency that the bride, of course, has been stated is not in Nigeria. And maybe she probably would be the one that would have suggested that, oh, this is it. My husband to be is in Nigeria. So you have to be in talks and keep talking and all of that. But whose blame should it be? The first of all is unprofessional for the event planner. Very, very unprofessional of her. I would say it's a heave because we already know she's pregnant. It's very unprofessional. And also it's very unprofessional of the man as well. So both of them shared the blame. They take the blame because as an event planner, I'm not an event planner, but common sense would want to say that you're not supposed to meet in those kind of places, confined spaces, go to his house. You should have an office. Even if it's not an office, an open space where you meet and have the conversation. And if you think that he's actually crossing the boundaries and stepping, you know, going beyond what he should, then you should probably call the bride's attention, try to pull up. Oh, someone would be saying she's speaking, you know, some Spanish right now. But it's really sad. I just can't imagine. Let me put myself in her shoes now, the bride who was in the United Kingdom. If there's something to go by, how would I would be feeling at this point in time? I hear from the reports that, like you said, she's in the UK and that the efforts, let me just say what he said. The man is terrified. No one can reach him at the moment. He's terrified of what exactly? Someone needs to check on that guy. Why? He needs to check on him because, I mean, so he doesn't do anything to himself. Oh, really? Because, I mean, if they try to reach him and they can't reach him, then someone needs to check on him, try. So some of the people would say it's okay if he does anything to you? Oh, really? Yeah, that's what people would say. Why would he be terrified? If the information gets out there as a groom, all right? If the information gets out there, it's on the internet. I know that my wife, to be, will read about it. So you know the story, do you know the statement to say if you can't do the time, don't do the crime? It's almost the same thing. If you can't face it, why do you indulge? We don't want him harming himself to also make it right. But, I mean, okay, as a guy, if you want to, there's other things that make you go out. You want to, you want to be Randy, okay? You want to be Randy, you want to, at least have a spirit of thought for the woman, you know? If you must be, I'm not advocating for it. I'm not advocating for, but they're not married, but still you should be faithful. That's my policy. But if you must be Randy, have some dignity. Go about it with some dignity. Go far. Go far. Just, I mean, how many million women do we have in Nigeria? I have no idea. It had to be, it had to be the event planner. Oh, come on. Well, we actually wish the bride. I mean, like I would say, because I still have to ask myself, do these things really happen? But we wish the bride, it's not a do or die affair. We wish her the very best. We hope that the groom is safe, wherever he is. I have a question for you. If you were the bride, what would you do? Nothing. I would probably be thinking of what to do. Would you call off the wedding? I don't know. You know the truth is, you never can tell what you can do until you're faced with the situation. So if I tell you that, no, I wouldn't call off the wedding. It's because I really don't know. I don't know how she feels right now, until you're wearing the shoes and then you can take that decision. So I could say, no, I'll call off the wedding. No, I won't call off the wedding. No, I will go ahead. But because it's not me, I can't tell. Until it's me then. Thanks a lot. Besties try to jump. Anyway, Twitter is back. Twitter is back. And of course, it's back with its drama right here in Nigeria. Well, this is the much that we can take on Topfriending. Today, definitely come with more starts. Tomorrow, we'll step out of the brakes and when we come back, we head straight to the newspaper review where we take a look at the big stories making the wrong. And we'll have a guest joining the conversation.