Governance is a sacred trust, not a four-year launchpad for fiscal indiscipline
By BAMOFIN LADIPO JOHNSON
To dismiss a demand for accountability as ‘childish’ at a time when our citizens are facing unprecedented hardship shows how completely disconnected this administration is from reality.
The response by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga to the legitimate calls for political accountability in our country is a deep insult to the intelligence of 210 million Nigerians. To dismiss a demand for accountability as ‘childish’ at a time when our citizens are facing unprecedented hardship shows how completely disconnected this administration is from reality.
Let us look strictly at the facts. The Presidency boasts of ‘reforms’. Yet, the authoritative World Bank Nigeria reports reveal that our national poverty rate has ballooned to 63%, plunging 140 million of our brothers and sisters into severe deprivation. This is not a global accident; it is the direct result of poorly planned economic adjustments that destroyed the value of the Naira without creating any safety nets for the population.
Furthermore, this administration has abandoned fiscal responsibility. Just this month, the National Assembly was recalled for an emergency session to extend the 2025 capital budget for a third consecutive time. We are now running overlapping budgets from multiple fiscal cycles simultaneously. This chaotic implementation distorts accountability, masks corruption, and proves that the executive cannot properly manage our national finances.
The OK MOVEMENT firmly aligns with the view that our democratic institutions are failing us. If we had a truly independent and effective National Assembly, this Tinubu-led executive would have been held accountable long ago for the unchecked wave of killings, kidnappings, and banditry terrorizing our communities.
The Illusion of Popular Mandates and Off-Cycle Victories
In his frantic defense of a collapsing house, Mr. Onanuga pointed to recent off-cycle governorship elections and legislative by-elections as proof of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration’s enduring popularity. This claim is not just hollow; it is a shameful attempt to rewrite reality. The administration is mistaking systemic voter suppression and institutional capture for public affection.
Let the facts speak for themselves. The so-called electoral “victories” celebrated by the Presidency are nothing more than a mockery of democratic choice.
Just days ago, civil society groups and independent journalists monitoring the Ekiti State governorship election documented widespread and sophisticated vote-buying operations orchestrated by state actors. Party agents abandoned direct cash distributions to evade security, apparently replacing them with a predatory “numbered slip” token economy. Voters were forced to display their marked ballot papers to state agents before receiving these chits, converting public desperation into forced compliance.
Independent electoral watchdogs like Yiaga Africa have categorically stated that recent sub-national and local government elections have been a complete travesty of democratic processes. They have noted that political actors are actively rolling back years of hard-fought electoral reforms through rampant intimidation, widespread violence, and structural interference.
Let us also look at the technical subversion of the process. In recent by-elections, experts have flagged major technological gaps and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) failures revealing a dangerous and deliberate regression in election management.
Winning a compromised contest in an environment of engineered voter apathy—where over 70% of the electorate stays home out of fear or sheer exhaustion—is not a mandate. It is a captured outcome!
A New Horizon: The Promise of 2027
To the resilient people of Nigeria, and specifically to my constituents right here in Lagos Central: do not let their manufactured numbers break your spirit. The desperate tactics we are witnessing are the final, frantic actions of a political elite that knows its time is running out.
The tide is turning, and positive change is fully within our reach.
The upcoming 2027 general election will not be a rerun of past manipulation. Under the unified banner of the *Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the joint ticket of *Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso* offers a powerful alternative to this fiscal chaos. This partnership combines unyielding financial integrity with vast grassroots mobilization across every region of this country. It bridges the Niger, unites our aspirations, and offers a clear path toward national renewal.
We are building an unstoppable coalition of conscience. From the markets of Lagos Island to the farming communities of the North, Nigerians are ready to reclaim their destiny. As your candidate for the Senate in Lagos Central, I pledge to help anchor a National Assembly that protects the people, guards the treasury, and holds the executive strictly accountable.
Political responsibility is not unique to the UK parliamentary system. It belongs to any democracy where leaders respect the people. If President Tinubu and his team could demand resignations in 2014 under what were milder economic conditions, they cannot today declare the same demand unconstitutional. The season of governance by propaganda is coming to a close. The future belongs to the people!
*Bamofin Ladipo Johnson
NDC Candidate for Senate, (Lagos Central).
Member, OK Movement.
