The national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has accused the outgoing Senate President, Bukola Saraki and speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara of high jacking the nation’s budget since 2015.Tinubu, who spoke in defence of his support for better leadership of the ninth national assembly, beginning from May this year, also accused the (current) Senate leadership of being regressive elitists, constituting a brake on progress and good governance.
“The Senate leadership, and to a lesser degree, the House leadership, stymied APC legislative initiatives while attempting to hoist noxious, reactionary and self-interested legislation on the nation.”
“National budgets were delayed and distorted as these actors (Saraki and Dogara) repeatedly sought to pad budgets with pet projects that would profit them.
“Even worse, they cut funds intended to prosper projects that would have benefitted the average person. After four years of their antics, halting the progress of government, we should do all we can to prevent a repeat of their malign control of the National Assembly.”
According to Tinubu, Senator Saraki finagled his way into the senate presidency in 2015, saying: “he planted himself at the apex of legislative power. But his actions as Senate president showed a man devoid of compassion for the average Nigerian. All he cared for was power and position.
“Soon he will be deprived of both. House Speaker Dogara has fared only slightly better. Occupying these positions is not a guarantee of future success. It is only a guarantee of present duty.
“Politics requires jockeying and maneuvering for influence to get the right people in the right positions. To be beneficial, politics must be tied to the greater purpose of governance such as with President Buhari’s goal to reform the national economy for the good of all Nigerians.
“Just look at the way Saraki, Dogara and their ilk high jacked the budget process these past four years. National budgets were delayed and distorted as these actors repeatedly sought to pad budgets with pet projects that would profit them. Even worse, they cut funds intended to prosper projects that would have benefitted the average person. After four years of their antics halting the progress of government, we should do all we can to prevent a repeat of their malign control of the National Assembly.
“If we are truly committed to optimal governance, then we also must be equally committed to ensuring that the National Assembly leadership be competent and experienced as well as imbued with a progressive mindset and a desire to work in close cooperation with executive. This is all Asiwaju has hoped to achieve. There are no ulterior motives. Everything he has done is in concert with and in furtherance of the wishes of President Buhari and the party.
“What everyone who cares about Nigeria should now do is rally around the president to give him all possible support in driving to reality his economic policies and objectives. This is how we progress as a nation.
