Ndume Urges Tinubu to Prioritise Competence in Appointments

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, has slammed the government of President Bola Tinubu, stating that it is being run by people who are not on the same page with the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He, therefore, advised the President to always consider competence in his choice of those to work with him.

Ndume stated this in an interview with Arise News Channel, Thursday night where he said, “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 expressed concern over recent government policies, such as the cybercrime levy, which faced public opposition. 

“When the President realised that he had not heard about it, he quickly suspended it,” Ndume said.

He highlighted the significant challenge of hunger and food scarcity, noting that inflation has risen to 40 per cent.

According to Ndume, “In some places, even with your money, you won’t find the food items you want to buy, which is very dangerous,”

The federal lawmaker pointed out that Nigeria has never been included among countries facing severe food crises or food insecurity, but recent United Nations and World Food Programme figures ranked 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 criticised 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.

 He expressed concern that the President is “caged in” and that there are no visible efforts by the government to address pressing issues like climate change.

Ndume, who stressed the need for the President to harness Nigeria’s natural and human resources, urged him to “get the right people into office” and dominate his government with democrats.

“The President needs people who will realise his dream and tell him when something is wrong,” he said.

The Chief Whip, who expressed his support for the removal of fuel subsidy, said it would eliminate corruption and allow savings to benefit the people. 

However, the senator suggested the introduction of food stamps to manage the subsidy issue better. He recounted sending messages to people in the Presidential Villa about public anger, only to receive responses blaming the opposition.

“When people in power start responding like that, then I’m worried for the President and myself; there’s a problem out there,” he said.