 A very good morning to you. You're welcome to the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. My name is Romare Paulson. And on today's show, we're going to be looking at some hot topics. We have Zamfara to spend three billion Naira on consultancy services for government projects. Another hot topic we're looking at is Nigerians turn to traditional healers as prizes of drugs go up. Yeah, so those are the hot topics we'll be looking at this morning. We'll also be looking at what the national dailies are saying as well as some top trending stories. But first, I think we should take out quotes of the day. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life. You are the pilot of your life. Lock in your destination. Take off to it from where you are. And this is Vimal Shah Bidko from Kenya. He's one of the top guys at Bidko and he's from Kenya. And his quote today says, today is the beginning of the rest of your life. You are the pilot of your life. Lock in your destination. Take off to it from where you are. And I mean, it's mindset Monday. So this just tells you that wherever you are, do not limit yourself. Today is what you have. You have the present. You're not promised tomorrow. And so you need to make hay while the sun shines as they say today is the beginning of the rest of your life. So whatever you do today determines the outcome of your future. So why not lock in your destination, the destination that you would like to see that place that you aspire for yourself. Lock it in today and start to take off because you are the pilot of your life. And that is what our quote is saying today. Okay, so let's move over to our top trending stories this morning. And this is quite a sad one. Over the weekend, we were rocked with some very sad and devastating news. So over the weekend, there was some very devastating and sad news. And it was the fact that Herbert Weigwe, who was the CEO of NNPC Holdings, passed away with his wife and his son as well. And so right now we have like the company, you know, they issued a statement on Sunday that confirmed Weigwe's death alongside his wife and his son in a helicopter crash in the United States on Friday. According to the statement signed by the group company Sunday, the appointment of a new head was in line with the company's policy. And also on the board, the ill-fated chapel with three others, including the former chairman of the Nigerian exchange group at Bimbola Ogumbajo, which is quite sad. Preliminary reports suggest that the crash could have been caused by wintry weather and rain. A member of the National Transportation Board said after a press briefing on Sunday, Weigwe was appointed Access Holdings GCEO on March 28, 2022. Prior to his appointment, he had occupied various positions within Access Bank from being the deputy managing director at Access Bank from 2012 to 2014, where he became the group managing director and CEO. He served as the chairman of Access Bank Ghana, Access Investments and Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearance System, and presently as the chairman of Access Bank Limited and Unified Payment Services Limited. Meanwhile, more tributes have continued to pour in for the late banker, the latest coming from businessman Femi Otedola, who describes Weigwe's death as a loss of a banking genius. This is quite a very, very sad news that we started with over the weekend, hearing that Herbert and his wife and his son, they had passed away due to the helicopter crash in the United States. I remember, you know, reading this news. I got this news on my way home. I was in the car and I opened my WhatsApp group because Herbert went to my school, was a proud alumni of the Federal Government College of Worry, and so I opened the WhatsApp group of my alumni association and I saw the news and I'm like, oh my god. And everybody on the group was just saying, no, it cannot be, it cannot be. And it was so sad because we know who it was. He was such a good man. He was a force. He was a visionary. And this is a colossal loss for everyone. The banking industry in Nigeria, in fact, Nigeria at large, and everyone who is near and dear to him, you know, is just an irreparable loss. And at this point, we just hope, you know, we pray that their souls rest in peace and we pray for the fortitude to bear this loss for everyone who is near and dear to the Weigwe family. And yes, our hearts, you know, go to everyone at the moment. It's quite sad, but God knows best. All right, let's move over to another story. So our second top training story goes, Canyon Agency sells warehouses for hoarding foodstuffs. The Canyon State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission is confiscated 10 warehouses containing assorted foodstuffs in the Dawanao area of Dawakin to a far local government area of the state. The commission's chairman, Mr. Mohi Magaji, disclosed this to newsmen shortly after confiscating the warehouses in Dawanao International Greens Market, Singer Market, and Quarry Texales Market on Sunday. He said that the owners of such warehouses were nowhere to be found during the operation, but that those that were opened were sacked full of commodities, including spaghetti, rice, pasta, sugar, and other food items. He said the owners had been issued notice to report to the commission preparatory to facing charges before the court of law for their illegal activities. The agency started operation last Thursday and have made a significant impact towards stopping the instant rise and the price of essential commodities. According to Magaji, the agencies were able to, the agency were able to solve the instant increase in prices of commodities. I'm sure if you're watching this right now, you know what the prices of food is in your area. It is quite expensive, quite exorbitant. There are people who cannot afford this food anymore. There are people who cannot afford to put two meals, talk more about three square meals. Some people have to eat once a day and it's quite sad that some people would actually hoard this food, keep it in warehouses, store them just to, you know, had the price for no reason. And I mean, I commend the agency for doing this. I think as many warehouses they can find, they need to start to open them up and see what's in there. And if no one comes forward then I mean put them on the market because people need this food. You cannot be hoarding food at this point where everything goes up and it's going up is the prices are being hiked because, you know, you're keeping them, you're hoarding them. It's not commendable at all but I will commend the agency and I think they're doing a very good job and yes, I hope they continue. And I hope they don't seize them. That's another question now. Do they seize them? What do they do with them when they seize them? Do they, you know, put it on the market? Do they give them as palliatives or do they just keep them and share them? So that's another thing I would love some transparency on to what they actually do with all of the items that they confiscate. All right, moving over to our final story. This says, Seraph sues a Pabio Abbas of a lack of clarity about 344.85 billion Naira budget. The social economic rights and accountability project, Seraph, has sued the leadership of the National Assembly over unexplained details of 344.85 billion Naira in their budget. Joined as defendants in the suits filed last Friday or Senate President, Mr. Gotswil Ababio and Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr. Tajdain Abbas. Mr. Ababio and Abbas are sued for themselves and on behalf of all members of the National Assembly. Seraph, among other reliefs in the suit, filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja sought an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr. Pabio and Mr. Abbas to disclose, clarify and explain details of the 344.85 billion Naira National Assembly budget in their Appropriation Act 2024. In the suit, Seraph argues, details of spending of public funds by the National Assembly have been mostly shrouded in secrecy. Nigerians have the right to know the details of the budget by the lawmakers and the rationale for the budget. According to Seraph, upper city, in the spending of the 344.85 billion Naira National Assembly budget would have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens and the public interests. The suit, filed on behalf of Seraph by his lawyers Kola Wale Uluwadari and Andrew Wang, called Red Impart, it is in the public interest and the interest of justice to grant this application. Nigerians are entitled to their constitutionally and internationally recognize human rights to information. If others said the National Assembly increased its own allocation in the 2024 budget to 344.48 billion Naira. The new budget relocation to the National Assembly is over 70% of the 197 billion Naira proposed by President Bola Tinibu for the lawmakers and the budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly. No data has been fixed for the hearing of the suit yet. All right, I mean, could this be Seraph? They are always, I would say, they keep looking out for the citizens. It's not news that our government or our politicians, for every time they need to make an appropriation bill. Over the years, we've seen time and time again where the bill is always increased, the budget is always increased. They come with one and when they're back again, it has been increased by some figures. I mean, I think Nigerians deserve to know what their money is going into. These are taxpayers' money. So it is only right that you're transparent with taxpayers' money. You cannot be spending our monies and we don't know what you're using it for if it's for your own personal gain or if it's for your own personal pursuit of success or it is just your own personal being frivolous, right? You cannot be using taxpayers' money to buy 160 million-dollar SUVs. You cannot be using taxpayers' money to buy a presidential yacht. You can't be using taxpayers' money to just renovate. Fine, I mean, you should renovate the wherever you're staying because it's a government house. However, you need to be prudent with such monies because a lot of people are suffering in Nigeria. So you cannot be taking the money, monies that are meant for everyone to at least get the basic amenities. You're using that for something else. So we need transparency. We need clarity. We need to know what this money has been used for. In fact, why do you need the money? First, why the secrecy? Why are you keeping the money or why are you actually asking for money that we cannot tell what you're going to use the money for? And then you just go ahead and you spend it? You need to report to the citizens of Nigeria because we, I want to believe, we elected you in. So you are there to serve. You're not just there for your own personal ambition. You're there to serve. And so, I mean, could us to serve up? I love the fact that every single time that things like this happen, they are always on the toes of the politician. And yes, we demand, we demand some form of transparency. All right. That's it on our top trending stories. We'll go on a short break. And when we return, we'll be looking at what the national dailies are saying this morning in off the press. Please stay with us.