The directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release funds to the Regional Development Commissions without adequate transparency safeguards to evaluate the veracity, viability and expected impact of projects, track releases and monitor implementation opens yet another avenue for the frittering away of public funds.
While we have nothing against the release of funds to Regional Development Commissions, such funding must come with transparency, measurable deliverables, independent oversight and strict accountability.
The National Publicity Secretary of APM, Abubakar Yusuf maintained that the absence of clear safeguards and the timing of the directive -barely four months before the 2027 general elections- raise public apprehension that the funds may not be applied to their stated purpose.
The notoriety of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration for non-implementation of budget releases, coupled with allegations of the diversion of billions on Naira by APC operatives, deepens apprehension over the motive behind the directive.
Is it not curious that President Tinubu’s directive is coming just a few months to the election, a clear six months after the N1.3 trillion budget for the Regional Development Commissions was passed by the National Assembly in March this year?
President Tinubu must come clean on public concerns that his directive is designed to enable the APC to warehouse funds for its plot to financially induce voters, the APC having realized that it cannot win a free, fair, credible and uncompromised election in 2027.
Under the APC administration, the Regional Development Commissions have become conduits through which corrupt APC leaders use bloated and unexecuted contracts to siphon billions of Naira meant for infrastructural development in their respective regions.
We therefore demand that Mr. President make public the allocation to each regional commission, the proposed projects, their locations, the specific amounts, the contractors involved and due diligence certification before any money is released to the Commissions.
Nigerians must be on the alert and monitor the actions and inaction of the Development Commissions in their respective regions with regard to the President’s directive.
We urge the management of these Development Commissions and other government agencies to be patriotic by resisting and reporting overtures and pressure from APC leaders seeking to use their agencies to steal from Nigerians.
In any event, it is clear that despite the shenanigans by the APC, our candidate, Engr. Seyi Makinde, who enjoys the solidarity of Nigerians, especially the youth population, will emerge victorious in the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Nigerians have found in Seyi Makinde a credible alternative to President Tinubu, and no amount of inducement, intimidation or institutional manipulation will deter them from mobilizing, voting and protecting their votes for the APM come January 16, 2027.
