Anita Ogona
Senator Ali Ndume, the Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, has issued a scathing indictment of the Nigerian government, characterizing it as a “kakistocracy”, a system where the most incompetent, corrupt, and unscrupulous individuals hold sway, and decrying the reign of ineptitude and malfeasance in the country’s leadership.
Ndume during an interview with Arise TV programme on Friday, said country is being led by those who are unfit to govern, prioritizing personal interests over the well-being of the nation and its citizens.
This harsh assessment highlights the deep-seated issues and challenges facing Nigeria’s political landscape.
He said the “government is going down,” adding that it is “run by kakistocrats”.
“The government is also populated by kleptocrats, but unfortunately that is not what the president is up to; he really meant renewed hope, but you can only do that when you have people around you that are on the same type of thinking,” he said.
Ndume expressed concern over recent government policies, such as the cybercrime levy, which faced public opposition.
He noted, “When the president realized that he had not heard about it, he quickly suspended it.”
He highlighted the significant challenge of hunger and food scarcity, noting that inflation has risen to 40%.
“In some places, even with your money, you won’t find the food items you want to buy, which is very dangerous,” Ndume added.
He pointed out that Nigeria has never been included among countries facing severe food crises or food insecurity, but recent UN and World Food Programme figures rank Nigeria as a hotspot.
“For people like me, I have to be scared because I’m 64 years old with 10 children, 20 grandchildren, and I don’t have a passport or visa to anywhere,” he said.
Ndume criticized the limited access to the president, stating that some ministers only meet the president during council meetings and that the president is often the first to leave.
“I’m the chief whip, and if the chief whip can’t have access to the president, the new senators won’t have access either,” he said.
Senator Ali Ndume lamented the inaccessibility of the current president, unlike during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure, where senators could meet with the president within 24 hours.
He said during Obasanjo’s administration, if a senator wanted to see the president within 24 hours, “nobody will ask him what do you want to see Mr President for, he made sure within 24 hours that any senator has access to him”.
He said, “Ministers go in and out. Obasanjo as old he is, he was older than President Tinubu – you talk to the people, hear from the people and that is politics but now to me it seems beside shielding Mr President they always give him assurance that everything is alright out there and that is not the case.”
Ndume emphasized the need for the president to tap into Nigeria’s resources and surround himself with competent individuals, urging him to appoint democrats to key positions and ensure a more inclusive and effective governance.
He stressed that this would enable the president to harness the country’s potential and tackle pressing challenges.
“The president needs people who will realise his dream and tell him when something is wrong,” he said.
Ndume said even the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari that was thought to be the worst is now far better compared with the current administration and happenings in the country.
“If you know the President before now, then you know that the whole scenario has changed. This is somebody, he stays in Lagos – if you go to Bourdillon anytime, any day, anytime in the night you can go to Bourdillon – 2 am and in most cases you will find President Bola Tinubu receiving people in and out.
“If you come to where he stays in Abuja in Lagos House, you will know from when you take a turn whether he’s in town or not any time of the day. There’s some time you go there 3 in the night and you will meet him there. But now if you go to the Villa – the front of Villa is like graveyard because they don’t allow anybody to go and see Mr President.”
He said in every government, “you have the gatekeepers – those who want the president to know everything and to have other opinions, even encouraged those that matter in the government to come over…”
“During Buhari’s administration which I thought was not that good but if you compare this now to Buhari’s regime you give Buhari thumbs up because at least he opens up, people come to see him,” he said.
He maintained that there are some ministers under Tinubu administration that don’t have access to him. “The only access they have to Mr President is when they are invited and some may not be invited or when they go for council meeting,” he said.
He explained that going to Council meeting even doesn’t guarantee that a minister will meet with president. “When they go for Council meeting, by the time the president goes in all of them are seated and the President is the first person to leave after meeting.
“You can’t say I want to – that is it. There’s a procedure and then the Secretary to Government to Federation (SGF), who is supposed to be the clearing house, I haven’t seen him most lately,” he said.
Senator Ndume expressed support for the removal of fuel subsidies, hoping it would curb corruption and redirect funds to benefit the populace.
However, he proposed introducing food stamps to mitigate the subsidy removal’s impact on vulnerable citizens.
He shared his concerns about public discontent, revealing that he had sent messages to officials in the Presidential Villa, only to receive dismissive responses attributing the unrest to opposition machinations.
Ndume warned that such responses indicate a disconnect from reality, saying, “When people in power respond like that, I worry for the president and myself; there’s a problem out there.”
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