Ali Ndume, Senate Chief Whip, has defended the actions of certain members who screamed President Bola Tinubu’s campaign song during the presentation of the nation’s 2024 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The MPs’ actions, in which they sang the ‘On your mandate we shall stand’ mantra in honor of the president, drew criticism from several sides, but Ndume insists there was nothing wrong.
Ndume, the Borno South lawmaker, claimed this on Friday during an appearance on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today.’
Ndume said,
“It is not a crime. Honestly, it is not a big deal. In this country, we pick on trivial things.
“When a President walks in, there are times that some members take advantage of that situation to even challenge the President directly.
“When Buhari came some time back, this same thing was done – ‘Sai Baba’ (was chanted). So why should Tinubu’s case be a big deal?”
The PUNCH also reports that Ndume had said that former President Muhammadu Buhari was not in charge of his administration like the incumbent, Tinubu.
Ndume stated that Buhari, during his eight-year tenure, failed to take control of and oversee the activities of his appointees.
He said,
“I believe in President Tinubu, I think he can change things. The President here is in charge, that’s one thing with him.
“Sometimes people even think Tinubu is too authoritative. No, he takes charge; unlike our former President who will just give you an assignment and will not look over you. That’s where the problem is, and he knows that. That was the mistake President Buhari did.”
“He (Buhari) ended up confessing these days that he had more kleptocrats in his government. I said it before, and now he admitted that there were some kinds of people that took over power to themselves. But in Tinubu’s government, you can’t do that,” the senator added.