We have watched in consternation the gradual asphyxiation of constructive criticism of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the past two years. Presidency spokespersons, party officials and even commission agents are quick to denigrate whoever offers divergent ideas – what in saner climes are taken in good faith with a view to making amends and making governance better. But not in Nigeria of the APC government.
There is an endless list of people perceived as enemies of the administration but the case of Mohammed Ali Ndume stands out.
In National Assembly matters and indeed North East, Senator Ndume is not a pushover. For someone who has crisscrossed both arms of the federal legislature in the past 22 years, his views carry weight.
Ndume came to national politics when in 2003, he was elected to represent the people of Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, a position he occupied till 2011. In the 6th Assembly in 2007, he was unanimously elected as the Minority Leader.
In December 2010, barely 100 days to the 2011 general elections, Ndume decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Alhaji Sanda Garba, who had been the only aspirant for the Borno South Senate seat, stepped down to make way for Ndume as the PDP candidate, an election he won with 146,403 votes, ahead of Dr. Asaba Vilita Bashir of the ANPP’s 133,734 votes. Ndume has since moved countless Motions and sponsored several Bills in the Parliament including the Constituencies Development Fund Bill and Electoral Act Amendment Bill that enabled Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, vote in 2015 elections.
Following his re-election in 2015, Senator Ndume became the Leader of the Senate in the 8th Assembly until 2017 when he was replaced with Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan. He later emerged the Chief Whip of the 10th Senate on 4 July 2023 but removed on 17 July 2024, following his criticism of the budget of the fledgling Tinubu administration.
Since then, every action or utterance of this experienced North East politician has been given negative interpretation by his party and government, the latest being his admonition to the president and indeed the APC to be wary of the ongoing endorsement of a second term for President Tinubu by every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Ndume had, in an interview on Channels Television, said 22 governors of the then ruling PDP endorsed former President Goodluck Jonathan but he lost the 2015 re-election bid to former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.
He said: “It is too early to start endorsing President Tinubu for 2027. The President should be wary of people who are rushing to pledge loyalty or push endorsements. These things may not be sincere, and they can distract him from focusing on the important work ahead.”
However, Ndume alleged that the current administration has been hijacked by a cabal of kleptocrats and “kakistocrats,” a situation that has been obvious to all Nigerians since 2023, adding that presidential aides who are meant to assist President Tinubu are deceiving him on national issues.
Despite how germane and honest this advice was, presidential spokespersons and the APC simply descended into the use of gutter language to castigate Ndume.
For instance, in a statement on Monday, June 9, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Strategy, dismissed Ndume’s claims as baseless and said the senator often gets his facts wrong.
“Ndume is entitled to his opinion, as a lone-wolf opposition within the APC, though he most often gets his facts wrong or builds his thesis on a specious, faulty foundation.
“A ranking Senator making reckless statements on TV cannot command the respect of any right-thinking person.
“Does he know the word’s meaning, or does he just like bandying terms,” Onanuga wrote.
However, the ruling party quickly moved to douse tension about the possible backlash from an outright war with Ndume for the umpteenth time. “Senator Ndume is a respected member of the APC. He has made comments in the past, some of which were critical of the party, but that doesn’t mean he is acting against the APC.
“This party believes in internal democracy and freedom of expression as long as it does not go against our core principles,” said its Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim.
Yet, we believe that constructive critics should not be hounded about just to please a president who, instructively, has become obsessed with self-glorification hitherto unprecedented in Nigerian history.
Within two years in power, President Tinubu has renamed seven national projects – from airports to barracks, libraries, highways and conference centre – after himself. This is unequalled by past rulers, not Buhari, Jonathan, Umaru Yar’ Adua; not even Olusegun Obasanjo or the undisputed Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB.
“Within two years in power, President Tinubu has renamed seven national projects – from airports to barracks, libraries, highways and conference centre – after himself. This is unequalled by past rulers, not Buhari, Jonathan, Umaru Yar’ Adua; not even Olusegun Obasanjo or the undisputed Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB.”