1
00:00:00,160 –> 00:00:03,839
Speaker 1: Information from the Nigerian presidency has indicated that there is

2
00:00:03,879 –> 00:00:06,919
a plan by President Bola Ahmed to Nubu to begin

3
00:00:07,080 –> 00:00:10,759
legal action against the country Former President good Luck of

4
00:00:10,800 –> 00:00:14,919
beallet Jonathan over sustained and continuous rumours in certain quarters

5
00:00:14,960 –> 00:00:18,879
that ex President Jonathan may have indicated interest to recontest

6
00:00:18,960 –> 00:00:23,280
as Nigeria president in twenty twenty seven. This the Special

7
00:00:23,280 –> 00:00:27,359
Advisor to President Bola Aremed to Nubu on Information and Strategy,

8
00:00:27,679 –> 00:00:31,280
BeO on Anugu, said Jonathan is welcome to join the

9
00:00:31,320 –> 00:00:35,600
twenty twenty seven presidential electoral race, but Jonathan will have

10
00:00:35,640 –> 00:00:38,399
his date in the Court of the land. Indeed, the

11
00:00:38,520 –> 00:00:41,640
jury will determine whether Jonathan, who was sworn in twice

12
00:00:41,679 –> 00:00:46,240
as president, satisfies the constitutional requirements and is eligible to

13
00:00:46,280 –> 00:00:50,079
contest the presidency and be sworn in if successful for

14
00:00:50,159 –> 00:00:53,359
a third term in office. It would be recalled that

15
00:00:53,399 –> 00:00:56,960
ex President Jonathan was one of the most criticized presidents

16
00:00:57,000 –> 00:01:02,320
in Nigeria, with politicians including President Bolahmed Tanubu, who was

17
00:01:02,359 –> 00:01:06,000
then a chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria ACN,

18
00:01:06,079 –> 00:01:10,239
forming a coalition of All Progressives Congress APC to defeat

19
00:01:10,280 –> 00:01:14,680
the incumbent president in twenty fifteen. Currently, there is also

20
00:01:14,760 –> 00:01:19,280
a coalition formed by politicians in Nigeria, the African Democratic

21
00:01:19,359 –> 00:01:23,719
Congress ADC, to defeat and remove President Tanubu from office

22
00:01:23,719 –> 00:01:27,159
in twenty twenty seven, and lately, reports indicated that the

23
00:01:27,200 –> 00:01:31,359
former President good Luck Jonathan is considering joining the African

24
00:01:31,439 –> 00:01:35,879
Democratic Congress ADC, but no official announcement has been made.

25
00:01:36,400 –> 00:01:40,680
The speculation intensified after Jonathan met with ad C national

26
00:01:40,760 –> 00:01:45,200
Chairman David Mark in late September twenty twenty five, amidst

27
00:01:45,200 –> 00:01:49,959
ongoing discussions about the twenty twenty seven presidential election, and

28
00:01:50,079 –> 00:01:54,040
Jonathan’s closed door meeting with ad C leaders on September

29
00:01:54,079 –> 00:01:58,439
twenty fifth, twenty twenty five, fueled widespread speculation about his

30
00:01:58,519 –> 00:02:02,359
potential run for the presidentcy on their platform. In a

31
00:02:02,400 –> 00:02:06,680
statement issued on Monday, bo on Anuga, the spokesperson to

32
00:02:06,719 –> 00:02:10,840
President Boler Ahmed Tanubu, said, as we begin the march

33
00:02:10,879 –> 00:02:14,639
towards the twenty twenty seven elections, prematurely foisted on the

34
00:02:14,719 –> 00:02:18,400
nation by the desperation of the opposition ganging up against

35
00:02:18,439 –> 00:02:23,439
President Bola Tanubu despite his glaring giant economic strides, we

36
00:02:23,520 –> 00:02:26,759
are once again regaled with a cacophony of voices, most

37
00:02:26,800 –> 00:02:30,120
of them full of sound and fury, signifying nothing to

38
00:02:30,199 –> 00:02:34,879
paraphrase inimitable Williams Shakespeare in one of his classic works, Macbeth.

39
00:02:35,680 –> 00:02:38,960
One recent statement that stands out in its absurdity is

40
00:02:39,000 –> 00:02:44,240
Professor Jerry Garners, the former Minister of Information and National Orientation,

41
00:02:44,879 –> 00:02:48,199
moving to draft former President good Luck Jonathan into the

42
00:02:48,199 –> 00:02:51,919
two thousand and seven presidential race, affirmed that the former

43
00:02:51,960 –> 00:02:55,120
president would contest the coming election on the platform of

44
00:02:55,159 –> 00:02:59,759
the discredited People’s Democratic Party PDP, which bequeathed the legacy

45
00:02:59,759 –> 00:03:03,560
of r economic ruins after sixteen years of bad governance.

46
00:03:04,319 –> 00:03:08,319
Garner even deluded himself, asserting that the former president would

47
00:03:08,319 –> 00:03:13,879
defeat President Tanubu to reclaim power after twelve years. Professor Garner,

48
00:03:13,919 –> 00:03:16,960
of the defunct m amsc R fame is free to

49
00:03:17,000 –> 00:03:21,000
delude himself and engage in his usual comedy. After all,

50
00:03:21,400 –> 00:03:24,400
Jonathan’s entering the race would provide another job for the

51
00:03:24,479 –> 00:03:29,400
Niger State born former university don However, we should caution

52
00:03:29,560 –> 00:03:33,080
former President Jonathan to be wary of the PDP sugar

53
00:03:33,120 –> 00:03:37,520
coated cheerleaders politicians of Jerry Garner’s ilk merely want to

54
00:03:37,599 –> 00:03:42,120
lure him into the race to satisfy their personal political, religious,

55
00:03:42,319 –> 00:03:46,719
and ethnic interests. They will abandon him midstream, as they

56
00:03:46,719 –> 00:03:50,400
did in twenty fifteen, and leave gentlemen Jonathan in the lurch.

57
00:03:51,240 –> 00:03:54,719
Don’t get us wrong, President Jonathan reserves the right to

58
00:03:54,800 –> 00:03:58,240
run if he wishes. It is his analienable right to

59
00:03:58,280 –> 00:04:03,000
contest the presidency again. President Tanoubu will wholeheartedly welcome him

60
00:04:03,039 –> 00:04:06,479
if he decides to enter the race. But Jonathan will

61
00:04:06,520 –> 00:04:09,680
have his date in the court of the land. Indeed,

62
00:04:10,080 –> 00:04:13,240
the jury will determine whether Jonathan, who was sworn in

63
00:04:13,319 –> 00:04:18,879
twice as president, satisfies the constitutional requirements and is eligible

64
00:04:18,920 –> 00:04:22,399
to contest the presidency and be sworn in if successful,

65
00:04:22,720 –> 00:04:25,920
for a third term in office. Shorn of all those

66
00:04:25,959 –> 00:04:30,000
selfish considerations for which some PDP big guns find his

67
00:04:30,120 –> 00:04:34,319
candidacy appealing, President Jonathan will also have his encounter with

68
00:04:34,399 –> 00:04:36,800
the people as to whether he has anything new to

69
00:04:36,879 –> 00:04:40,360
offer after his disastrous six years for which they voted

70
00:04:40,399 –> 00:04:44,600
him out in twenty fifteen. Let us remind ourselves about

71
00:04:44,680 –> 00:04:47,959
Jonathan’s record. We cannot forget in a hurry how his

72
00:04:48,079 –> 00:04:53,120
regime devoid of any clear economic agenda, engaged in frivolous spending,

73
00:04:53,439 –> 00:04:56,639
ran the economy aground and put the country in dire straits.

74
00:04:57,439 –> 00:05:01,360
The nation’s economic downturn, which present than Tanubu is working

75
00:05:01,519 –> 00:05:06,000
very hard to overcome, actually began under President Jonathan. The

76
00:05:06,120 –> 00:05:10,720
Jonathan administration severely damaged the economy and all key indicators

77
00:05:10,800 –> 00:05:14,879
declined under his watch. Under him, the so called business

78
00:05:14,920 –> 00:05:19,199
moguls allocated foreign exchange to import fuel, simply pocketing the

79
00:05:19,240 –> 00:05:23,439
dollars without importing anything. Some of those big men still

80
00:05:23,439 –> 00:05:27,079
have court cases on the issue today. Jonathan and his

81
00:05:27,240 –> 00:05:33,399
National security advisor, Colonel Sambo Dusuki, retired freely distributed security

82
00:05:33,439 –> 00:05:38,000
funds to friends and cronies. In twenty ten, President Jonathan

83
00:05:38,040 –> 00:05:41,519
inherited a total of sixty six billion dollars, of which

84
00:05:41,560 –> 00:05:44,639
forty six billion dollars was in foreign reserves and twenty

85
00:05:44,680 –> 00:05:47,959
billion dollars in the noble but abused excess crude account.

86
00:05:48,680 –> 00:05:53,160
By twenty fifteen, when the people democratically removed him from office,

87
00:05:53,279 –> 00:05:56,879
the foreign reserves had fallen below thirty billion dollars and

88
00:05:56,959 –> 00:05:59,800
the excess crude account had been depleted to two billion

89
00:05:59,800 –> 00:06:04,240
dolls dollar. Despite generating record revenue from crude oil sales

90
00:06:04,279 –> 00:06:07,040
that the country had never achieved in more than twenty

91
00:06:07,120 –> 00:06:11,079
five years combined. It is on record that between twenty

92
00:06:11,160 –> 00:06:14,480
ten and twenty thirteen, crude oil sold for an average

93
00:06:14,519 –> 00:06:19,199
of dollar one hundred per barrel. By December twenty fourteen, however,

94
00:06:19,600 –> 00:06:23,120
the Jonathan led federal government could no longer pay salaries

95
00:06:23,160 –> 00:06:27,199
to federal civil servants. At least twenty eight states across

96
00:06:27,240 –> 00:06:32,279
the country owned workers huge salary arrears. In contrast, President

97
00:06:32,439 –> 00:06:35,759
Nubu has taken bold decisions over the last twenty eight

98
00:06:35,800 –> 00:06:39,600
months to reset the economy, removing the ruinous fuel subsidy

99
00:06:39,639 –> 00:06:43,040
in abolishing multiple exchange rates which paid the way for

100
00:06:43,160 –> 00:06:47,480
arbitrage to flourish. The president has stabilized the economy in

101
00:06:47,560 –> 00:06:51,639
slightly over two years in office. In twenty twenty five

102
00:06:51,759 –> 00:06:55,279
Q two, the gross domestic product grew by four point

103
00:06:55,279 –> 00:06:58,920
two three percent, the highest in four years, outpacing the

104
00:06:58,959 –> 00:07:02,879
three point four percent projected by the International Monetary Fund.

105
00:07:03,639 –> 00:07:06,759
Inflation decreased to twenty point one two per cent in

106
00:07:06,839 –> 00:07:10,519
August twenty twenty five, the lowest level in three years.

107
00:07:11,319 –> 00:07:15,240
The fine reserves stand presently at forty two dollars oh

108
00:07:15,279 –> 00:07:20,759
three billion the naira has virtually stabilized. Investor confidence in

109
00:07:20,800 –> 00:07:24,800
our economy has been restored and investors are betting on Nigeria.

110
00:07:25,560 –> 00:07:29,040
In plain language, the nation has turned the corner and

111
00:07:29,199 –> 00:07:31,959
our people have started reaping the gains of the bold

112
00:07:32,040 –> 00:07:37,879
reforms instituted by the Tanubu administration. Road infrastructure is being boosted.

113
00:07:38,279 –> 00:07:41,800
Old roads are being reconstructed, while new ones like the

114
00:07:41,879 –> 00:07:46,720
Lagos Kalabar Coastal Highway and the Sokotoba Dagri Highway, among others,

115
00:07:46,959 –> 00:07:51,120
as springing up. The government is addressing security issues in

116
00:07:51,160 –> 00:07:54,199
some parts of the country. We can go on and

117
00:07:54,240 –> 00:07:59,879
on reeling out the many macroeconomic gains of the Tanubu administration. However,

118
00:08:00,319 –> 00:08:02,519
the point is that the p d P and Jerry

119
00:08:02,519 –> 00:08:07,079
Gana’s co travelers broke the economy. President Tanubu is fixing it.

120
00:08:07,839 –> 00:08:11,000
President Jonathan and others are welcome to the twenty twenty

121
00:08:11,079 –> 00:08:15,160
seven race. They broke the economy before, but millions of

122
00:08:15,279 –> 00:08:19,000
Nigerians who will not easily forget the recent past, will

123
00:08:19,040 –> 00:08:21,319
not allow him to return and run it down again.

124
00:08:23,439 –> 00:08:28,040
Possasua Amedi bringing you bringie in a mortgagial