Ndume: ‘You’re Becoming A Puppet In Tinubu’s Hands’ – Atiku Blasts National Assembly

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has berated the National Assembly over the removal of the Senator representing Borno South senatorial district, Ali Ndume, as the Majority Whip.

Naija News reports that Ndume was replaced by Borno North Senator, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, during the plenary on Tuesday, following his criticism of President Bola Tinubu.

Recall that last week, Ndume stated in an interview that the president was unaware of what was happening outside the Villa, alleging that the president had been fenced off and caged.

In a statement via X on Thursday, Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, faulted the highhandedness of the executive arm of the government in attempting to use the legislature against the interest of the masses.

Atiku asserted that the democracy under the current administration of President Bola Tinubu has become an anathema to the general principle of democracy.

He noted that the National Assembly is gradually becoming a puppet in Tinubu’s hands as regards taking a reverse course in its function.

While expressing displeasure over the removal of Ndume, Atiku also recalled the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi, who had earlier criticized Tinubu earlier this year, adding that the National Assembly has become an enabler of executive recklessness.

The statement read, “In the evolution of systems of government, a major concern for thinkers was a governmental framework that will reduce the highhandedness of the executive arm of government.

“It was thought, and rightly so too, that a participatory approach to governance, such that will make the government derive its legitimacy from the people will better serve the interest of the masses.

“And thus, to make sure that the executive does not go overboard in the application of its powers, the legislative arm of government was conceived as a means of protecting the people from the authoritarian tendencies of wielders of state powers.

“Regrettably, however, the democracy in Nigeria in the current administration of President Bola Tinubu has become an anathema to that general principle of democracy as providing primary protection for the people against executive excesses.

“This ugly tendency is being manifested by the steady posturing of our National Assembly, especially the Senate, of taking a reverse course in its core function and becoming a puppet in the hands of the President.

“It is uncharitable that whenever members of the Senate stand on the floor of the red chamber to perform their statutory duty of calling the executive to order, they are immediately reprimanded for so doing.

“When Senator Abdul Ningi called attention of the country to the incident of budget padding in the 2024 Appropriation bill, rather than calling for a thorough investigation into the observation, the reaction of the Senate was to hand him a suspension. Today, the people of Nigeria are victims of ambiguous budget framework upon which appropriations for the current fiscal year are hinged in the face of multiplicity of appropriations.

“Only yesterday, Senator Ali Ndume called for the President to wake up to his responsibilities and provide succour to address the biting hunger and poverty in the country. Ironically, the response of the @NGRSenate to his patriotic warning is to relieve him of his principal office as the Chief Whip of the Senate.

“Also, despite persistent solicitations that government put its priorities on canceling the excruciating hardship in the land and suspend the idea of spending scarce resources on the purchase of new aircraft for the presidential fleet, the Senate took a stand against the people and ignored the voices of altruism by decorating the President with controversial purchases of an aircraft and a yacht amidst the worst material conditions of the average citizen in the history of our country.

“We are, therefore, beginning to see a pattern in which the National Assembly has become an enabler of executive recklessness, and the concerns of the people stand in the nadir of priority list of the legislature.

“This emerging reality must stop. The health of our democracy is being compromised by this unholy alliance between the executive and the legislature and portends a dictatorship that will worsen the lot of the people.”