Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has reflected on his experiences in the Senate, detailing instances of suspension and removal from key leadership roles, which he attributed to his commitment to “speaking the truth.”
In an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW) Hausa service, Ndume recalled his suspension from the 8th Senate and removal as Chief Whip in the current 10th Senate. He also recounted what he described as betrayal by former Senate President Bukola Saraki, despite supporting Saraki’s emergence as Senate President in 2015.
“I was removed as Senate leader and later suspended for eight months without salary. It riled me up because we played a crucial role in the emergence of Saraki (as Senate President), but he betrayed me,” Ndume said.
Reflecting on his recent removal as Chief Whip, Ndume stated, “I was recently sacked as Chief Whip for speaking the truth. But it is now a thing of the past. And as I watch, Allah in his mercy is avenging the betrayal.”
The senator expressed deep concern over the plight of the poor in Nigeria, lamenting that democracy has failed to fulfil its promises.
“It worries me that despite committing myself to the cause of improving the welfare of the masses in the hope that their condition would be better, it is lamentable that this has not yet been achieved,” he said.
Ndume also shared his disappointment over the state of governance, emphasising that the sacrifices of the poor seem to have gone unrecognised.
“We held hopes high during the administration of Buhari and now the present government, thinking that the sacrifices of the poor would pay off. I’m worried because I’m also a son of the poor,” he remarked.
Criticising the current administration, Ndume observed that democracy in Nigeria has lost its essence. “The government of the day is now ‘personalized.’ A government under a democratic rule is supposed to be a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. But this is not so now,” he concluded.