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Ndume explodes again! I see doom for Tinubu in 2027, over poor performance
To Muhammed Ali Ndume, Senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly, nothing will save President Bola Tinubu’s ambition to win a re-election in 2027, outside a sharp departure from his current underwhelming performance in office, which has plunged Nigeria into poverty and untold hardship never experienced in its history.
Ndume, who was removed as Chief Whip of the Senate in 2024 for a similar comment after he described his then one-year-old administration as a government of khakistocracy and kleptocracy, dismissed all those egging the President on as noisemakers talking nonsense, adding that the solution in Tinubu’s second term rested with hearing the cries of Nigerians.
A guest of Prime Time, a public affairs programme on ARISE NEWAS, on Tuesday, the Senator, not only accused the President of running a nepotistic government, signposted by filling political offices with 70 appointees from South West, but leaving Nigeria in the worst form of hunger and deprivation.
Regretting that the situation would have been mitigated if only those the President were appointing were performers, Ndume, who argued that concentrating such recruitment in one area offended the Nigerian constitution maintained that the dismal outing in every department of Tinubu’s government, would ruin his ambition.
Hear him: “I support the President getting even an expatriate to occupy certain positions, as long as it doesn’t infract on the constitution. But what he is doing infracts on the constitution. And worst of it, so far, majority of those given the responsibilities are not discharging them. Yes, I question their competence and I did before and I still stand by it. Because we’ve gotten to where there is no ray of hope under the leadership of those appointees.
“All we hear is, endure, it will be okay, it will be okay and it is two years. And now, the main purpose of government is clearly stated in section 14, security and welfare of citizens and of course other things that follow in section 14 of our constitution. We’re far from most of them, especially security and welfare of citizens. There is no amount of the hullaballoo that they are doing out there that if the President doesn’t do something that will make Nigerians feel and see and not just hear these figures churning out.
“No! There is this Hausa saying that if you tell a dog that there is party in the house, it will tell you let me see it and let me see it means getting some bones or meat. But when you say that things are okay and Nigerians are still out there yearning that things are tough – you yourself know that things are tough.
“You can see that Nigeria’s security challenge is still there. When it goes down a little bit it goes up again. As I said, the main purpose of government is security. Whatever you do in this country, it comes first.”
Bemoaning the escalation of terrorist activities across the country, Ndume, who emphasised the security and welfare of Nigerians as enshrined in the constitution as the bulwark of governance in Nigeria, said contrary to claims in certain quarters, Nigeria had not defeated the phenomenon.
Reiterating his prediction of doomsday for Tinubu in 2027, he said: “I hear them talking about 2027 all the time. But for me, I’m talking about today. I’m 65. I thank God for my life. All these people shouting about 2027 they don’t believe in God, because 2027 two years ahead and you don’t know if Ndume is going to be alive then or even the President. They’re busy shouting about 2027.
“We’ve just finished with the mandate. We’re just two years. In fact until next month, the President is just two years old and you’re talking about 2027. By the time the President is performing very well and Nigerians are happy, nobody will start talking about competing with Mr. President. It will be automatic.
“But as it is now, they keep on talking nonsense, as far as I’m concerned. Because, three things will determine whether this government is going to succeed or nor. One, security, two, welfare of the citizens and three that is related to the welfare is the economy itself. If it is not performing, then you can go and be talking nonsense, you cannot work.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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