MANY Nigerians are still holding their  breath over the show of shame  and rascality exhibited by some members  of the National Assembly when President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2019 appropriation bill to the auspicious body.

THE  clownish drama might appear  normal as parliamentary absurdity, but the conduct of some senators, particularly, Senator Dino Melaye  and his cohorts to turn  the hallowed chambers into  a boxing arena while the president was delivering his budget speech smacks of adult delinquency.

THOSE  who watched the event would agree that the booing legislators crossed  the tolerance line by their deliberate provocative antics  which forced the president to  call them to order  by reminding them that the  world  ‘is watching us’.

PARTY politics aside, the president remains the symbol of our unity and pride and to subject him to ridicule by some scallywags calls for serious sober reflection and  diplomatic finesse.

IT is gratifying  that notable Nigerians have risen to condemn  the mean and foolish  misconduct of PDP members who wanted to  extort political capital from a nominal and annual budget presentation.

WE see their booing and  jeering   few   days away from a presidential election in which the opposition is obviously jittery as a well choreographed attempt to  cow and embarrass  President  Buhari as a misfit and incompetent.

PENULTIMATE to the presentation date, the main opposition party and the Conference Union of Political Party, CUPP had charged  opposition members to boycott the budget presentation by the president.

HARDLY had the president gone to present the proposed N8.83 trillion budget for 2019 fiscal year to a joint session of the National Assembly when he was greeted with protest by the members of the main opposition party who even came with placards with different inscriptions jeering at him.

EVEN, appeal by President Mohammadu Buhari to the distinguished Senators and Honourable members to be courteous and that the world was watching had no effect as they turned the Hallow Chamber to public ridicule and opprobrium.

WE see this action as nothing but a shame, legislative rascality, unparliamentarily attitude, uncivilized and under serving of national pride.

BOOING their President when reading the budget and his achievements in the last three and half years of his administration is a national embarrassment, a shame to the entire nation and its people.

BICKERING and disagreement are part of democracy and clashes of interest are synonymous with the legislature worldwide, but when such act is driven beyond the ambience of decency it  should be condemned by all.

TURNING that important occasion into rancorous one when Nigerians are preparing for Christmas and New Year shows the mind set of our legislators to national issues in the last three and half years.

AT a time when the national budget was being presented, at a time when the nation is preparing for the general election and at a time when the country has just been moved from recession, our members of the National Assembly should have been more sobered and reflective  on how to help the president and the nation to solve all its myriad of problems.

REGRETTABLY  in the last three and half years of the present administration, the 8th National Assembly has constituted itself to be a clog in the wheel of progress of the government, turning itself to an opposition.

IN a normal clime, members of the National Assembly are expected to  jettison personal interest and work for the overall interest of the nation by perusing the budget holistically to meet  the common interest of  Nigerians.

PRESENTATION of the budget should have been time for all to join hands with Mr. President, and time for all hands to be on deck to put national interest in front burner, not the selfish interest they had displayed to the outer world last Wednesday.

THE HOPE therefore admonishes the “Distinguished and Honourable members”, to be indeed distinguished and honourable in their actions. They should be mindful of their activities as all eyes are on the country, internationally and nationally as we approach the 2019 general elections. They should not be seen forming cliques to run this country down.

WE also advise the electorate to be mindful of whom they will elect to represent them at the coming assembly. We advise that they should jettison the issue of money but instead chose men and women  whose activities would add value to national development.

WE enjoin the National Assembly members to ensure that they avoid the reoccurrence of such dastardly act that could portray the country in bad light and even portray them as the enemies of the country as many are tagged  them in the last three and half years of the present administration.

THEY should look at the present annual budget from the prism of patriotism in order to move the nation forward.