It’s trite for one to observe that this is not the best season for political gladiators in the Nigerian clime. Whichever end of the stick they are holding, long or short, common denominators are predictable: sweat, tears and trepidation!
First-time elective office seekers need a war chest and a propaganda crack team to add to the support of political godfathers within the party hierarchy. For those seeking re-election, affliction has come a second or third time! It’s no longer the size of the war chest available for the project but the performance scorecard.
And the performance doesn’t only stop at constituency projects executed and employment facilitated but even includes accessibility on the phone! Every election year is like Daniel coming to judgement. Whether the election will be free or flawed, it must exert energy, money, vigour and rigour.
In climes like the United States, the election year is a carnival of sorts. The ground rules are already established, and what the electorates are using to make their choices are taxes, job creation, security and cost of living. But in Nigeria, religion, region, party affiliation and pecuniary inducements are paramount determinants!
When and where these rapacious viruses are contained and combatted, institutional apparatchiks like security agencies and the election umpire become complicit in the usurpation of the popular democratic wish of the people at the polls!
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This must have precipitated the exasperation of many when President Tinubu addressed the nation on the 3rd anniversary of his administration, May 29. He reeled out figures and statistics to support a growing economy, which millions have yet to feel in their stomachs and pockets!
He scored himself above average in economic management, road infrastructure and political stability. On the critical issue of internal insecurity, he never admitted any shortcomings but stood on the same old hackneyed promise of security forces being equal to the task of neutralising insurgency nationwide.
I wonder how many Nigerians can cash this in at any nearby bank of public trust! Truth be told, Mr President’s scorecard is not soul-lifting for millions who are toiling daily on the streets as hewers of wood and drawers of water. And as a leader who prioritises politics over governance, I doubt if much will be achieved within the few months left to the end of his first term in office!
Still basking in the spirit of stewardship, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State also hosted a media parley in Uyo to present his scorecard a day after his 3rd anniversary in office. Arguably, it was the best outing by any standard! He elected to go extempore and bilingual (English and Ibibio), and many issues were dissected and garnished with anecdotes!
But tongues have continued to wag on the reported receipt of 2.5 trillion naira from federal coffers since he assumed office in 2023. Some mathematics freaks have posited that the figure has rubbished what previous state governors received within such a short period! The governor’s answer to this question during another media forum was that more than 80 ongoing capital-intensive projects could prove a judicious appropriation of such a humongous amount! I beg to differ.
Such a stupendous windfall deserves more than a blanket expenditure dismissal. Both recurrent and capital expenditures should be compartmentalised. The focus should be on capital projects. That’s why many Akwa Ibomites have always insisted on contract sums being made public each time any capital project is awarded! It helps transparency and accountability.
We have seen the architectural wonders and the scenery at the Ibom Palm Resort. It is capital-intensive, but what is the contract sum? Extensive renovation work is ongoing at the Ibom Five-Star hotel. But at what cost? The Ibom International Hotel, the International Conference Centre, the new specialist hospital and another high-brow hotel are money-guzzling projects for which the public is denied knowledge of their contract sums.
As life-touching and economically viable as these projects may be, the citizenry, as collective proprietors of these projects, should not be in the dark on the cost of each of these projects! It is not a novel demand in public financial management and accountability. A perfunctory reference to the approved state budget and yearly audited accounts of the government is not expedient and hands-on!
