Makinde tackles Tinubu over budget implementation, alleged nepotism

…promises to reset Nigeria

The presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Engr. Seyi Makinde, has criticised the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over what he described as inconsistencies in Nigeria’s budget implementation, alleged nepotism and a political culture that prioritises regional interests over national development.

Makinde, who is also the Governor of Oyo State, said Nigeria needed a fundamental reset to address its economic and security challenges, insisting that the country could not achieve meaningful development through a system in which political leaders concentrated projects and opportunities in their own regions.

Speaking in Akure, Ondo State, during the South-West Town Hall meeting, Makinde challenged the Federal Government to account for the budget it was currently implementing, alleging uncertainty over whether the country was operating the 2023, 2024 or 2026 budget.

Drawing a sharp contrast between his administration and the Federal Government, the APM presidential candidate said Oyo state had improved its budget performance from between 28 and 30 per cent before he assumed office to over 70 per cent under his leadership.

He said the state had also maintained a consistent January-to-December budget cycle for more than seven years, with budgets presented and passed before the beginning of each fiscal year, unlike uncertainty surrounding the Tinubu administration’s budget implementation.

Makinde challenged the Federal Government to clarify the budget it was operating, asking whether it was the 2023, 2024 or 2026 budget.

“Tinubu’s administration right now, we don’t know which budget they are even operating for Nigeria. Is it 2023, 2024 or 2026 budget?” he asked.

Makinde said his administration had demonstrated that effective budget planning and implementation were possible, adding that the improvement in Oyo State’s budget performance was not a one-year achievement but a practice sustained over several years.

According to him, budgets in the state are usually presented to the House of Assembly around November or December, passed before the end of the year and implemented from January 1 of the following year.

He challenged Nigerians to examine his administration’s record, arguing that his experience in Oyo state provided an alternative to what he described as the shortcomings of the present political order.

The APM candidate also faulted the politics of regional entitlement, saying Nigeria could not make progress if elected leaders treated political power as an opportunity to favour their relatives, allies or geographical constituencies.

“We say no to a turn-by-turn Nigeria where they say, ‘It is my turn to run a nepotistic administration,’” he said.

Makinde argued that national development should not be determined by which region produced the president, insisting that the country’s resources and opportunities must benefit Nigerians across geographical and demographic divides.

He cited the 1999 presidential election, in which former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Olu Falae, both from the South-West, contested against each other, as an example of the region’s capacity to offer Nigerians competing political choices.

He said the emergence of a presidential candidate from the South-West should not prevent another candidate from the same region from contesting, adding that the overriding consideration should be the quality of leadership offered to the country.

According to him, the South-West should reject what he described as the politics of deceit and embrace a new political direction capable of addressing Nigeria’s pressing challenges.

“South-West, you must say no to politics of deceit. They have asked me to stop criticising them and tell them what I will do. Well, I do have things that we have done, and we have done successfully in Oyo State,” he said.

Makinde said his proposed Reset Nigeria agenda would focus on building an economy capable of supporting infrastructure development, creating opportunities for young people and women, and ensuring that no region was left behind.

He explained that Nigeria’s development challenges required a collective response rather than a system in which successive administrations abandoned projects initiated by their predecessors because of regional or political considerations.

“We don’t want turn-by-turn nepotism. We also don’t want turn-by-turn projects,” he said, warning that the practice of starting projects for political reasons without completing them would prevent the country from deriving maximum value from its resources.

The governor used the analogy of rising tides to explain his vision of inclusive economic growth, saying improvements in the national economy should translate into better living conditions for Nigerians irrespective of their locations or social backgrounds.

He said his administration would pursue four major pillars under the Reset Nigeria agenda, beginning with education and security.

On education, Makinde argued that natural resources alone could not guarantee economic prosperity, stressing the need to equip Nigerians with the skills and knowledge required to compete in a changing economy.

He also promised to reset the country’s security architecture, although he did not fully outline the proposed reforms in the portion of his address made available.

The APM candidate urged eligible Nigerians to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and participate in the 2027 general election, describing the party as an alternative to the country’s established political order.

“APM is a reset agent. Get your PVC, and we will reset Nigeria. We want a Nigeria that works for everybody. It is not a Nigeria that works for very few,” he said.

Makinde also defended his decision to contest the presidency despite the South-West already having a candidate from the ruling political establishment, arguing that democracy should allow voters to choose between candidates based on their records and proposals.

He further declared confidence in the APM’s preparations for the election, saying the party had begun its groundwork ahead of May 29, 2027, when he expects a new administration to take office.

While dismissing age as the defining consideration in the presidential contest, Makinde said physical energy, endurance and the capacity to withstand the demands of the office should form part of the assessment of candidates.

He challenged other presidential contenders to demonstrate their physical fitness, arguing that the presidency required the stamina to deal with the country’s numerous challenges.

Supporting Makinde’s call for a change in governance, the national chairman of the APM, Yusuf Dantelle, said Nigeria needed a reset because of contradictions in its petroleum pricing, worsening insecurity and declining public confidence in democratic institutions.

Dantelle questioned why Nigerians continued to pay high prices for petroleum products despite the country being a major oil producer, arguing that citizens were bearing the consequences of price increases in the international market.

“Petroleum pricing has become abracadabra. Nobody can understand how we arrive at the prices of petroleum products,” he said.

Dantelle further criticised political interference in elections and the imposition of candidates, arguing that democracy should allow citizens to choose their representatives through a credible electoral process.

He urged Nigerians to support the APM’s proposed Reset Nigeria agenda, saying the country’s challenges required collective action beyond religious, ethnic and party affiliations.

“It is not about the religion we practise. It is not about our language. It is not about our political party. Parties will come and go, but Nigeria will remain,” he said.