As politicians from various parties begin a very anticipated campaign season towards the 2023 elections and Muhammadu Buhari’s government prepares to enter its lame duck mode in February 2023, Nigerians wonder what legacy this government leaves behind and what the new presidential hopefuls would do the same way or differently.
While candidates from opposition parties like Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) promise to do certain things differently, the Campaign Council of Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling party has promised to further tow the path of the incumbent President Buhari.
Mr Tinubu, in his letter of appointment of Governor Yahaya Bello as the National Youth Co-ordinator of the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council wrote:
“Together, not only can we ensure victory for our party in the February 2023 election but we shall also move Nigeria along the path of national greatness…by building on the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari APC administration in providing progressive good governance to Nigerians”, Premium Times reported.
However, more than any previous administration in recent times, the Muhammadu Buhari-led government has supervised a great deal of economic contradictions, ethnic conflicts, and several ethical concerns.
Thus, it is important to set the records straight, to help Nigerians measure and understand President Buhari’s governance deficits and be able to set a standard for his successor.
Besides, the new Presidential candidates need to explain to the people how they intend to not repeat the brutal killings and kidnappings that endured under Mr Buhari watch, which finally led to a motion for his impeachment.
The presidential hopefuls also need to state categorically whether the citizenry would again endure the unprecedented desecration of the judiciary by security officers with impunity, which occurred under Mr Buhari’s watch.
The Buhari Economic Oppositions
Precedence is President Buhari’s first economic opposition. According to the World Bank/AfDB 2020 Africa Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) ratings, Nigeria’s Economic Management (debt policy, fiscal policy) and Structural Policies (trade policy, financial sector development) all worsened under Buhari’s administration, compared with his predecessor.
Likewise, when the 2023 campaigns are over, when the collation of the 2023 election results are over, and when the ceremony for the next president in 2023 is over, those who will manage Nigeria’s economy in the next 4 years would be measured not only by Buhari’s immediate worse economic management but also by President Jonathan’s worrisome management of the country’s total reserves as well.
While aspiring political candidates are free to make promises like the presidential aspirants will repeat now that the campaign season has started, the people ought to sit each candidate down in sober statistical discussions and demand that they set themselves against objective measurements that are above par quantitatively, that are above the precedent government’s, and that are above pairs in Africa and the world.
In essence, the opposition checks and balances that Nigeria’s democracy needs to survive the current onslaught is no longer only a government’s opposition party but the government’s parity with outstanding precedents at home and pairs abroad.
When President Buhari’s administration is not performing worse than his predecessors’, it yet faces another set of oppositions.
Pair African Governments are the second opposition when appraising Mr Buhari’s economic performance. When Nigeria under Buhari’s watch is compared with countries with unfortunate economic situations, Nigeria ranks as more unfortunate in its governance (quality of public administration, quality of budgetary and financial management).
Compared to its unfortunate pairs, the quality of public administration under Nigeria’s incumbent president is comparable only to countries in “fragile and conflict affected situations”.
The quality of governance under President Buhari is not only below par (below average: 2.5 of 6 points) and below the 2.82 average for Sub-Saharan Africa, it is also worse than the average performance of governments of heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC), of least developed countries of the world, and of low income countries.
The incumbent administration is not doing well also in its quality of budgetary and financial management, when compared to its pairs in the world. While the Buhari government managed to achieve a mediocre score of 3 of 6, it manages the budgetary allocations and scarce public funds worse than heavily indebted poor countries and the low and middle income countries.