Tinubu caged, unaware Nigerians are hungry – APC senator

Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, has said President Bola Tinubu is not aware that many Nigerians are hungry.

Mr Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, also claimed that President Tinubu has been “caged” in the Presidential Villa and that some forces are preventing well meaning people from physically discussing the truth with him.

The Senate Whip stated this at a briefing with some journalists in his office at the National Assembly complex on Wednesday.

“Mr President (Bola Tinubu) is not in the picture of what is happening outside the Villa. He has been fenced off and caged. So many of us won’t go through the backdoor to engage him.

“Now they have stopped him from talking and he doesn’t have public affairs managers, except that his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, who writes press statements,” Mr Ndume said.

He faulted Mr Tinubu’s government on food security and specifically said that the president is not doing anything on the issue.

“Nigerians are getting very, very angry. The government is not doing anything about food scarcity and it needs to do something urgently. We don’t have a food reserve.

Senator Ali Ndume

“There is unavailability of food. Food crisis is the worst crisis that any nation can encounter. If we add that to the security crisis, it will be severe,” he added.

The senator, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Mr Tinubu, called on the president to adopt proper measures in the fight against food insecurity.

“The president should wake up, it seems he isn’t in the picture of what is happening because he has been caged off. He has been fenced off by plutocrats.

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“He should open his doors and meet those who will tell him the truth. Unfortunately, the people who will tell him the truth won’t struggle to meet him. I am very worried not only for the president himself but myself.”

During Tuesday’s plenary, he co-sponsored a motion to draw the attention of the federal government to the impending food insecurity in the country.

After back and forth on the motion, the Senate urged the federal government to immediately address the matter.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had also said there is an ongoing plan to distribute about 60 trucks of fertiliser to each state through the governors before the weekend to address food insecurity.

Serving senators will also receive two trucks of fertiliser each. In contrast, members of the House of Representatives will receive one each.