By PETER ANOSIKE

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nelson Ahamefula Akuma, has described the National Assembly as Nigeria’s biggest problem.

Speaking while reacting to the controversies surrounding the 2026 budget which was approved last week, he said that the current Assembly is no longer doing what it is required to do under the doctrine of separation of powers.

According to him, it was wrong for the National Assembly to pass the 2026 budget without first of all asking for the performance of the 2025 budget.

He said that situations like that is one of the main reasons why the ruling party is struggling for a one-party state so that there would be no cross examination of whatever they are bringing on the table.

Akuma also said that there is even nothing in the 2026 budget for the Nigerian masses.

According to him, Nigerian people would sweat out their blood to pay the taxes that the Tinubu government is coming out with n 2026.

He said that since the beginning of this democracy in 1999, there has never been a government that is as insensitive to the plight of Nigerians as that of the Tinubu administration.

According to him, APC has normalized evil and wrong doing in Nigeria.

“On the controversies surrounding the 2026 budget, the tax reform and so on. I want to say that the biggest problem that we have in Nigeria today is not even the executive arm of government but the legislative arm that has refused to perform their constitutional roles. The men and women in the National Assembly are no longer representing the masses. They are now defending the executive. Whatever the executive come up with goes unchallenged in the National Assembly. How can you pass 2026 budget without asking the performance of the 2025 budget. As I speak, Nigerians are in the dark about the performance of the previous budget. So, APC has normalized evil and wrongdoings in the country. We are now in an era of impunity. An era of anything goes. Even the suffering Nigerians were not put into consideration in the budget. For instance, there is an adage that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation but in the 2026 budget, health was among the least, not up to three trillion Naira. The same thing for education.”

Akuma said that one of the biggest auditing firms in the world, KPMG has already warned the presidency that no country can tax its people to greatness.

He said that you cannot grow an economy by taxing the people but rather by investing in infrastructure, which must include electricity.