Politics
Buhari’s 2019 Budget Presentation: Another Developmental Anomaly
There was near pandemonium last Wednesday on the floor of the National Assembly (NASS) when Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2019 budget. The bone of contention was disagreement over claims on achievements in the past three and half years of governance by the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).
While members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led opposition booed as the Mr. President mentioned the purported achievements of the government one-by-one, the ruling party hailed. But even then, the voice of the opposition was unmistakably too high to be subsumed.
At the end of the day, all other normalcy was thrown to the air as the session came to an abrupt end, with no speech entertained from neither the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, nor the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
Expectedly, in a democracy, this action of the ruling party has attracted various reactions. Specifically as is characteristic of Nigerian politics, some of these reactions, coming from the echelon of the ruling party, are self-contradictory, to the point that questions their real intentions.
One of the earliest reactions to the commotion in the Hallowed Chambers came from the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Abdulrazak Namdas, who declared the day’s event as normal in a democracy.
According to him, “What happened on the floor of the House was democracy in action. There is nothing abnormal about it because you could see that (members of) the ruling party were hailing the President but the opposition was not doing same.
“Everybody has the right to freedom of speech. But at the end of the day, the budget has been presented by the President and message has been passed, and it has been laid. That is what is important”.
He however evaded questions regarding why the Senate President and Speaker of House where not given opportunity to give their speeches, as a matter of responsibility.
His explanation was, “I want you to know that it was not just the Speaker, even when the President was actually reading out the budget speech, there was interruption at each point.”
In his response, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of Government, credited what transpired to those he called “unruly lawmakers who threw away parliamentary decorum to behave like ordinary protesters or agitators’’.
According to the Minister, “it is nothing but bad politicking, infantile politicking/parliamentary rascality. But the real news is that the unruly action provided the platform for our party, the APC, to assert its majority in the National Assembly”.
He did not stop there, as far as he is concerned, the incidents of that Wednesday, December 19, 2018 in the NASS is lesson for what will happen in the call of Nigerians for the President to assent to the pending Electoral Bill ahead of the 2019 general elections.
He used the opportunity to explain that as far as the same Electoral Bill was used to conduct the 2015 elections, which was adjudged to be largely free and fair, there was no need to change it.
“That law was drafted and approved under the same opposition that is now crying foul. “At what point did they lose confidence in this same law? What do they know that they are not telling Nigerians? The noise over the bill is a distraction and a potential alibi for an opposition in disarray,’’ he said.
In all of this melodrama, clearly characterized more by a quest by the ruling party to let the status quo remain than alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians, whose voice do not seem to matter, one key phenomenon that has played out is anomalies that can be hugely developmental for Nigeria, if the players truly have patriotism running throw their veins.
This season of developmental anomalies started with the first ever loss by a sitting President in 2015, when then President Goodluck Jonathan was voted out of power. While this was normal in a true democracy, it was widely seen as abnormal in Nigeria’s version of democracy.
The reason is mostly a mere belief that given the power accorded the Chief Executive in Nigeria, he is in a position to “do and undo”, meaning that he has the power to do virtually anything he deems fit. All he has to do is give just any explanation for his actions. The believability of such explanation is usually not secondary.
Another developmental abnormality played out again in the constitution of the leadership of the NASS at the end of elections in 2015. The contention was on who should be the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Expectedly, both the ruling party and the opposition had their choices. But as is usual, especially in Nigerian politics, in which merit can easily be slaughtered without qualms for mediocrity, just to prove superiority, amongst other unnecessary considerations, the choice of the ruling party takes the day.
But, at the end of a lot of political horse trading, which included bootlicking, propaganda, trade-by-barter, advocacy, etc, at various dignified levels, the fewer opposition members succeeded in instituting their choices for both the Senate President and Speaker of the Lower House, in the fold of Saraki and Dogara respectively.
While this was also abnormal in the Nigerian political white book, it was developmental to the point that it created a reasonable atmosphere of balance that had been hitherto non-existent at that level of Nigeria’s politics.
This has so far given little room for reason, if any, not to contend that it is these developmental anomalies at the highest levels of the country’s political space that has given birth and standing to such vehement disagreements witnessed recently over the call for the President’s assent to the Electoral Bill, and the incidents of last Wednesday over the 2019 budget.
In all, it has not only become easier to identify the rabble-rousers and pathological self-serving sycophants in Nigeria’s polity, but also made the institution of change at the right time very imperative.
What is yet to be done to seal the institution of more development anomalies in the Nigerian mentality, perhaps, is ensuring that when it is time for these anomalies to occur, nothing can stop them, not even the incumbency factor.
One way to ensure this is to put the Nigerian Constitution aright and make it work for the people.
Soibi Max-Alalibo
During a press conference held in Owerri, the coalition called the campaign a “dangerous and shameful display” designed to distract the public from the governor’s performance in office.
The CSOs directly linked the Greater Imo Initiative (GII) —the group that made the allegations on September 4, 2025—to Governor Uzodimma, describing the group as his “mouthpiece and attack dog.”
“Every word spoken against INEC was spoken on his behalf.
“By falsely alleging that Professor Yakubu has an alliance with Dr. Amadi to compromise the 2027 elections, Uzodimma has not only maligned a man of proven integrity but also assaulted the very foundation of our democracy”, said Dr Agbo Frederick, speaking for the coalition.
The coalition described Professor Yakubu as a “beacon of electoral professionalism” and called the attempt to soil his reputation “defamatory and a national security risk.”
They also defended Dr. Amadi, a “respected development scholar,” stating that the governor’s accusations were “laughable, desperate, and dangerous.”
The CSOs see the motive behind the campaign as an attempt to “silence the dissent, intimidate the opposition, and divert attention from the governor’s abysmal record in office.”
The coalition issued four key demands to Governor Uzodimma: An immediate retraction of the false and defamatory allegations against Professor Mahmood Yakubu and Dr. Chima Amadi.
- A public apology to both men within seven days, to be published in at least three national newspapers and broadcast on major television networks.
- An end to diversionary tactics and proxy propaganda.
- A renewed focus on governance, including addressing insecurity, unemployment, and poverty in Imo State.
The CSOs warned that failure to comply would force them to “review our position with a view to seeking legal redress from Governor Uzodimma for defamation, false accusation, and reckless endangerment of lives.”
“Governor Uzodimma must be reminded that he did not find himself in the seat of power to chase shadows.
“We call on all Nigerians to reject Uzodimma’s diversionary antics as they are nothing short of desperate plots by a government terrified of accountability”, the statement concluded.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC expressed concern that preventing the senator from resuming her legislative duties violates democratic principles and disenfranchises her constituents.
“The suspension, having been imposed by the Senate and not a court of law, has lapsed. Any further attempt to prevent her from resuming is therefore both illegal and morally indefensible,” Mallam Abdullahi said.
The party noted that denying Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan access to the chamber silences the voice of the people who elected her, adding that the withdrawal of her salary, aides, and office access during the suspension amounted to excessive punishment.
The ADC also criticised the Clerk of the National Assembly for declining to process her resumption on grounds that the matter was before the courts, arguing that the Clerk’s role was administrative, not judicial.
“Administrative caution must not translate into complicity. When the administrative machinery becomes hostage to political interests, the institution itself is diminished,” the party stated.
Highlighting that Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan is one of only four women in the 109-member Senate, the ADC warned that the handling of the case sends a discouraging signal about gender inclusion in Nigerian politics.
“Any action that resembles gender intimidation of the few women in the Senate would only discourage women’s participation. Nigeria cannot claim to be a democracy while excluding half of its population from key decision-making spaces,” Mallam Abdullahi added.
The ADC insisted that Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan be allowed to resume her seat immediately, stressing that the matter was about more than one individual.
“What is at stake here is not just one Senate seat, but the integrity of our democracy itself,” the party said.
