 Let's do the breakfast and plus TV Africa. We're looking at the first conversation right here with the activities going on with the Labour Party and the end to an alliance, the thought force and all that Nigerians had hoped for. A former presidential aide, Don Yocupo, has withdrawn from his position as running made to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, that's Pitao B. Now in a tweet that he made on his Twitter handle, he said, I submitted my withdrawal letter from the position of the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party to INEC. A replacement will be announced by the national chairman of the party shortly. I feel greatly blessed to have been part of the foundation of success for the Labour Party. Now Don Yocupo was standing in as the Labour Party vice presidential candidate to enable the party to form the largest political collision to challenge the all-progressive Congress, that's the APC, and the People's Democratic Party. The party had submitted a purpose name to beef the independence national electoral commission's deadline for submission of names of vice presidential candidate. Well, with all that has happened, Senator Yusuf Dati Baba-Ahmad has emerged as the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party as he was picked. And let's just run through a bit of who Senator Yusuf Dati is. He was a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007 and was elected senator for Kaduna North in Kaduna State, Niger in April 2011, running on the Congress for Progressive Change ticket, with a remarkable record according to reports of credit of sponsoring important legislation in a very short time. Now Baba-Ahmad has four degrees, a BSc and MSc in Economics and from University of Medugri, MBA from University of Wales, and in 2006 he successfully completed his PhD studies earning a title of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Westminster. After his service year at the University of Agriculture, Biokotau, Gunstate, he worked as a project coordinator, a base research and data service limited as officer two in the Nigerian security printing and maintenance company. We have Chris Wachobiya, Mr joining us this morning to make sense of all that's happening with Pital, he's running mate, we're drawing from the reason and all that encompassing you know the new candidate for the party. It's good to have you join us this morning, Chris Wachobiya. You're my pleasure to be here with you. So let's get straight to it, now you have Donyee withdrawing from the race, not that he was actually in the race but he was a placeholder and the spinner back and forth with the placeholder not being constitutionally recognized but we also remember that Festus Okoye, who's a commissioner for information and voter education of INEC, saying that the placeholder is a unique Nigerian intervention as much as there's no legal provision for it. What do you make of this, you know, provision, I mean, this new intervention? No, I think that what we must note first is that oftentimes in this part of the world we're used to semantics and several appellations. We have seen vice presidential candidates withdraw before the election proper, we have seen vice presidential candidate step down before the election proper but maybe because of the genuineness of the process at this point, you know INEC said that every presidential candidate must submit his or her running mate on or before the 17th of June and so the parties were trying to meet up with the deadline because they hadn't finished consultations so they had to put out some names but the constitution recognizes the place where before the deadline for nominations you can substitute your running mate and that is what the labor party had done with using Doi Okube as the vice presidential candidate. The name of the workplace holder is practically unknown to our law but can you withdraw the vice presidential candidate, the law says you can and there are specific provisions to that. Alright Professor Chris, let's also look at you know the candidate now that has been you know the labor party has eventually picked and going through his portfolio a lot of Nigerians and those who are supporting the labor party are very excited about his personality. Now looking at that and juxtaposing it with the responsibility of or the duty of a vice president, do you think that he has what it takes you know to become what it takes to actually perform the function of a vice president? Now before I address the pick, Senator Dacame, let me say that for the purpose of our listeners that when the Electoral Act provides that you can withdraw your vice presidential candidate it is a clear that the only condition on which you can substitute a valently nominated vice presidential candidate is in two instances. One, if the nominated candidate dies or if the nominated candidate withdraws from the race and in the event like what Dr. Dwayne Pugwer had done that he withdraws not as a result of death but a volition, he has to write a letter to the political party and indeed the Electoral Empire in it. Besides that he has to accompany it with an affidavit to prove that he wasn't compelled or forced to do so but he had done that voluntarily. Interestingly, Dr. Dwayne Pugwer has done that in compliance with the Electoral Act. Now to the issue of the pick. You have read a bit of his resume here. Besides being an accomplished intellectual, besides being a profound academic, he has been politically effective and active. He has been a member of the House of Representatives, he has been a member of the Senate. He withdrew like Governor Peter D. We withdrew from the PDT presidential primaries. He withdrew from the PDP Goanthea primaries because he did not want to be involved in a high billy monetized process. So here we have two candidates who are uniquely conversing a new regime for our country not only in terms of electoral process but in terms of leadership. I think that people could not have come with a better pick and I see the excitement in the public space. Nigerians are excited about the fact that we have a unique ticket that is ready to give the APC and the PDP a round for their money. Nigerians are excited because not only are the two candidates, men who are not looking for their certificates, who are not unleashed by thick academic certificates of qualifications, these are young people who are committed to a new regime in this country. A regime of credibility, a regime of competency, a regime of capacity and one that seeks to revolutionize how things are done in this country. I think that it could not be a better pick. I'm proud of PTOB, I'm proud of Bakia Med, I'm proud of the Labour Party and I think that generally the march to redeem our country from the morage has begun. So let's even get to it. Some people say that this would be the crux of the matter. We understand that in the Nigerian politics the knot is almost indispensable as what a lot of people have believed and constantly believe as it has always been seen you find out that the knot would always, some people say, have it and wield all of that vote that you need and so from the time of former president Olusian Gunobathsandru to the time of Goodluck Jonathan and also president Mohamad Buhari, you see that the knot would chunk out that particular vote and there's been a lot of theories or speculation as regards the attitude of the other parts of the region towards election and her participation. So the question here is do you see the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party as that magnet that would attract the vote to Labour Party? Not only is the vice presidential pick of the Labour Party from the Northwest, not only is he an intellectual, not only does he have the capacity and competency, he connects with the people of the Northwest. I say this advisedly, it is not easy to become a House of Reps member from the state of Kaduna. It is not easy also to have been a member of the Senate and then one what we must note is that the highest voter demography if you like in that scene that you talked about is the Northwest and he's from the Northwest. Also very importantly you can see that there's a sweat and hammer time sweeping through our country. Young people are rising up and speaking out and here is a vice presidential candidate that is below 50 or just about 50 years of age. He connects with the highest voter demography not only in the North but across this country. Don't forget that those between the ages of 18 and 35 are about the highest in our voter demography and then generally people between the ages of 18 and 50 are about 65 to 70% of our voting population. So those who sat with the presidential candidate of the Labor Party to decide on Senator Dakyame were profound in their research and analysis and the sweat and hammer time like I noted is leading to a voter based ballot revolution in our country and the two candidates connects with the generation of those who are saying that things must be done differently. That is why before the formal unveiling of Senator Dakyame, the social media is awash with salutary commentaries. That is why Nigerians are jubilant everywhere because for the first time since 1999 we're having a presidential ticket that can take on anybody anywhere in the world. But the first time in the history of our country we're having accomplished businessmen and intellectuals holding a common ticket. You're talking about a people being who is intelligent and who established and successful in business. You're talking about a Dakyame who is established in business, is a proprietor and owner of this university who has done well politically. He's a senator, he's been a senator and you're talking about someone who has four profound degrees both within Nigeria and outside. So we have a ticket to be proud of and I believe that it will resonate not only in the not but across our country, is a worthy choice, is the right choice. Nigerians are happy about it and the liberal party is set at the top force to take Nigeria out of the morass to promise. They're ready to lead a ballot-based revolution that will take this country away from the hopes of the past. Well I like the fact that you have mentioned you know a ballot-based revolution but if you look at the elections that are very close to 2023, general elections, one of them is the akiti election that happened and we're looking forward to the Oshun state election. Now one thing that was very dominant and very you know prominent about that election is that you have almost a million peasants who registered voters and if you look at the number of peasants who turned out to cast their votes, it doesn't even make up. So we're looking at all about 335 approximately let's say 400,000 compared to about a million peasants. So do you still think that you know the number of yes it's okay, we're getting the buzz on social media but will that translate to having actual votes because political pundits have said that what happens in this election will be very determinant of what will happen in 2023. Looking at the fact that a lot of peasants were anticipating a thought force, people will move away from the dominant political party of the APC and the PDP and would choose different options but what we saw in akiti state is the fact that you had the APC winning that election. So are you still saying that there's a ballot revolution going on? Let me say very clearly that there is a ballot-based revolution building. What happened in akiti is different from what we're looking at in 2023. What happened in akiti is the fact that the two dominant parties are still the very parties on ground and the jitobi movement and the labor resurgence, it's a it's a selection of the time different from what you have in akiti but interestingly even in akiti as opposed to the election before the reports said that there were more people and that the election was much more orderly but what we're looking at come 2023. Let me give you three good instances. INEC has said that within the past six to seven months about 10 million fresh voters have registered. It has never happened in our history. INEC has also said that of this number about 6.7 million of them are young people in six to seven months. That hasn't happened before and then very interestingly you saw how INEC was made to extend, that's the top point, the voter registration protocol. That is because young people across our country are waking up and saying that through the ballot they must take back their country. That is what is happening across our nation. That is the urgency of now and that's exactly what we expect will happen come 2023. I said this advisedly for those who are saying that oh the young people will not come out to vote. The point is they have also never seen this kind of re-awakening in our country. Young people are speaking up both on social media and on the streets. Let them stop blackmailing and lying against the young people. They're not just only on the social media. They're out there on the streets. They're out there registering to get their PVCs. They're out there in the marketplaces. Go around and see what is happening. Nobody's telling them to do what they're doing. They're riding vehicles with a Labour Party flag. They're riding the riders with the picture of P2B everywhere. Not necessarily because of P2B but because they want a new Nigeria, a new thinking, a new tendency and a new dispensation. And that is what the candidate of the Labour Party epitomizes. That is where we are. It is not so much of wishfulness. It's not so much of oh they're excited. No they are young people who are saying that this must be done differently. Let me say very importantly that hunger is in disagreement of ethnicity. It is in disagreement of the two major parties. If you're hungry, you're hungry whether you be of the PDP or the APC. And so the man who's hungry wants a new deal. Assoc strike is in disagreement of whether your PDP or APC. If your children are at home for over four months, you want them back in school. So it's not about the APC or the PDP. Nigerians are asking for a new deal. Let me say lightly that the question of insecurity, when more than 10 million bandits or villains murder people, they do not murder the APC or the PDP person alone. They are out there killing Nigerians. And so when Nigerians are saying that they want a new deal, they're saying that they want something different from the old. So that is why what we have on our hands, what we have on the political and the theatre, what we have on the political kaleidoscope is a ballot based revolution that is sweeping across our land. And before November this year, Nigerians will be shocked of who win the polls. No matter how much blackmail, the seat of treachery or perfidy that the major political parties throw out. We know those who truly care about our country. We know those who truly love our people. We know those who the quest for the presidency is not about the fulfillment of a personal ambition or a situation where it's just about our party. We know those who are crying like John the Baptist in the wilderness. We know those who are walking like Prophet Mohammed, please be on to him in Arabia, who are saying that we must fix our country, who are saying that we must make things better, who are saying that governance will be responsible and responsive to the people. And these people are those behind whom the masses of our country are filing. They are the image and the politics of the revolution. But we're looking at some of the current realities of our polity. And that's not to say that you don't have, you know, the Labour Party or all that's going on. But we're talking about what has happened. It's just an example. We're also looking forward to the Oshun state elections. And we want to see what's going on if the people are really sincere. And you have said that what happens in the state would differ from what happens nationally. But you also cannot take out the fact that at the national level, you also need the states to come together. So if you have Peter be winning the presidential seat, what becomes of him, if he gets into power seat and then you don't have lawmakers, I mean, you don't have, you know, legislatures at the federal level from the party. So we're saying that if you look at the body language of the people, the young people and every other person, the number of registered voters and those who tend out to cast their votes, it's not encouraging. And we worry for 2023. That's number one. And on the other hand, one would also think that with all of those boards, there would be a shift. Let's not also not forget that the fact that people go out to, you know, register and get their PVC does not translate into casting their votes on the DLV elections. Political apathy has constantly dominated the, you know, the political scene. Yes, we know that we're progressing. But what significant difference can we make in 2023? There's a whole lot of significant difference that what is happening across our country will make in 2023. Let me say, like I noted, that we have never seen the kind of voter registration that we've had over the past six months. But it doesn't mean that these persons would turn out to cast their votes. I'm coming. All right. They're struggling, like I said, the massive movement across our country is making the call to register and to step out when the election comes in massive message. They're conductive now. Young people are saying we will register and we'll step out to vote. Now, let me say also that you were right in your observation regarding the kitty, but the numbers are increasing. Don't forget that as we talk, there's a massive twist in this also political debate. Before now, we didn't have the kind of movement that we have today. That is a significant difference. Now, as you and I talk, Labour Party is campaigning in Oslo State because of the image and the resurgence of the party. There is a new, like my mentor, Martin Luther King, who said something is happening across our land and those who mirror what is happening across our land with the image of the past would be rudely awakened when the election comes in 2023 because people are not going to register to vote because they need the voter card as an ID. People are registering to vote and they're speaking out and speaking out because they believe that through their votes, through the BBC, they can change the lot of this country. Through their BBCs, they can ensure that there's an improvement in the future. That is a significant difference. Thank you so much. We have to go because we're out of time. Thank you for being part of the show. We appreciate your thoughts right here on the breakfast. The pleasure is mine. We're speaking with Professor Chris Wachobia, who is a political analyst and public affairs commentator, and that said, on Petalby's running mate and, you know, withdrawing from the race and the new vice presidential pick, apparently, has been put out right there. When we return, we'll be talking spots, please stay with us.