- Felix Morka said Ndume has multiple platforms to air his opinions on national issues, rather than the “outlandish declaration that the president has been caged”.
- The APC spokesperson added that the “president is busy doing the job for which he was elected by the Nigerian people”.
The All Progressive Congress (APC) says recent comments made by Ali Ndume, chief whip of the senate, that President Bola Tinubu is “inaccessible” are “smack of an indulgent sense of entitlement”.
In a statement on Saturday by Felix Morka, APC spokesperson, the ruling party described Ndume’s comments as “haughty” and “unnecessary”.
BACKSTORY
On July 10, Ndume said President Tinubu had shut his doors on some of his ministers.
The Borno senator added that members of the national assembly do not have access to the president on the issues plaguing their constituencies.
“The major problem with this government is that its doors are closed, to the extent that even some ministers cannot see the president,” Ndume had said.
“Not to mention members of the national assembly who do not have the opportunity to meet with him and discuss the issues affecting their constituencies.”
On July 12, the chief whip of the senate, said in a separate interview on Arise TV that is difficult to have an appointment with Tinubu because the nation’s leader has been “shielded from reality” by some of his appointees.
He remarked that it’s surprisingly easier to meet with Tinubu outside of the presidential villa, commendably comparing former President Muhammadu Buhari’s openness and accessibility to the current situation.
“If you know the president before now, you would know that the whole scenario has changed,” Ndume had said.
“But now, if you go to the front of the villa, it’s like a graveyard because they don’t allow anybody to go and see Mr. President.
The senator added some of the president’s aides may be doing him more harm than good.
‘STOP SEEKING MEDIA ATTENTION’
The APC spokesperson said that Ndume was yet to explain the use to which he had put these enormous access in seeking solutions to concerns that he might have.
“The latest outburst in the media by the senator representing Borno South, and Chief Whip of the 10th Senate, Sen. Mohammed Ali Ndume, claiming that President Tinubu has been caged,” he said.
“And unaware of existential challenges in the country is as haughty as it is unnecessary.
“As a Senator, Ndume has a platform of the National Assembly to raise and address matters that he may consider to be in the national interest.
“He also has access to the entire machinery of the Federal Government.”
TINUBU IS WORKING FOR NIGERIA’S PROGRESS.
In the statement, Morka said “the president’s time is required to be used judiciously in attending to important matters of state.”
The party spokesman recalled that on July 4, the president inaugurated the presidential economic coordination council (PECC) and launched the economic stabilisation programme.
“He is the head of government, of which there are many critical parts equipped with the power to process and deal with a wide range of simple to complex social, economic, political or security challenges.
Morka said it was understandable if the senator felt frustrated by his suggested inability to access the president.
“But this does not warrant or justify his outlandish declaration that the President had been caged in some way or ensconced from the reality of conditions in the country.
“Ndume’s heedless comments smack of an indulgent sense of entitlement to see the President on a whim. The President is busy doing the job Nigerians elected him for.”