Senator Ali Ndume, a federal lawmaker from Borno State, has stated that if another administration were in power, President Bola Tinubu would likely be out on the streets leading protests.
Ndume emphasized that he is not reliant on President Tinubu and asserted that, as a Senator, it is the President who should lobby him—not the other way around.
“I’m a son of nobody who became somebody without knowing anybody. Ask Mr. President,” the four-time Senator said during an interview on Arise News.
“I’m not one of his dependents; I’m his ally,” Ndume said. “Let me tell you something I admire and have even adopted from Mr. President—if our roles were reversed and I were the President doing the same things he’s doing now, he would be out on the streets protesting. He’s done it before, even against a government he supported, if he believed something was wrong.”
“But even today, someone from the government approached me, saying, ‘Why don’t you come over?’ And I said, ‘No, I won’t.’ I’m a Senator. In a proper democratic system, it is the President who should lobby me on national issues he doesn’t vote on my behalf. I’m the one who votes, whether in the Senate or during general elections.
“And I firmly believe—Ndume believes that it is God who gives and takes power, not any individual.”
“But it’s a responsibility on me, and as my religion says, to speak the truth, even if I’m alone and that’s almost what is happening now
“They will come around and say, ah, you are trying, but you are hitting too hard. I said, ‘Did I use a physical punch on anybody?’”
