Renowned political economist and management expert, Prof Pat Utomi, says failure of the political class has crippled the Nigerian government.
Utomi, who spoke during a programme on Channels TV, faulted the political class, expressing regret about the failure of leadership in every aspect of the society.
He said the government had failed to proffer solutions to the country’s challenges thereby making it difficult for citizens to be committed to the system.
Utomi said, “I think that the government is crippled; it is not connecting to the solution.
“If there is anything absent in Nigeria, it is leadership. At every level of our society, there is a failure of leadership.
“Leadership is about connecting to the soul of the people and giving everything sacrificially to lift it up.”
He stated that the failure of the political class led to the formation of the National Consultative Forum, a political group that he co-chairs.
According to him, the new political movement is “aimed at driving reforms” in the country.
He said, “We have an existential crisis. The political class has failed Nigeria, including all of us.
“I am part of them but I have fought always to make it different but you don’t always win.”
The political economist also expressed regret about the collapse of the principle of separation of powers between the Executive and Legislative arms of government.
Utomi accused the National Assembly of hijacking Executive functions and giving the budgetary process a political coloration.
He said, “There is a total collapse of separation of powers and the legislature has taken over running the Executive and the Executive is complicit in allowing that to happen.
“Anytime I have been asked to analyse the budget in this country for the last 20 years, I don’t analyse the budget because the budget process in this county is a joke.
“Today, the House Committee chair on Appropriation is more important to a national budget than the minister of finance because this game that is played in the National Assembly means that what comes out is really the budget of the National Assembly, not of the Executive branch and the Executive branch has refused to engage the matter.”
