Senator Ali Ndume has warned President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action against what he described as “kakistocrats” dominating the Presidency, saying the presence of unqualified officials is undermining the administration and exposing it to avoidable embarrassment.
The Borno South senator made the remarks while reacting to the composition of the All Progressives Congress, APC, 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.
Ndume said his major concern was not the campaign council itself but the calibre of people surrounding the President.
“My concern remains that the President has so many kakistocrats dominating the Presidency. Unless he does something about it, they will continue to mess him up,” he said.
He cited the discovery of a purported fake government agency operating from an office, which was later investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC.
According to him, the development eventually led to the suspension of a permanent secretary in the Presidency, an action for which he credited President Tinubu.
However, Ndume argued that the incident would not have occurred if the President had more competent hands around him.
“We had a fake agency operating with an office, and after the ICPC investigated, they discovered even more. A permanent secretary in the Presidency had to be suspended. That is where I give the President credit, but I insist that if he had capable hands, all this mess and embarrassment wouldn’t be happening,” he said.
On the APC campaign council, Ndume maintained that President Tinubu should not personally be involved in selling himself as a candidate, arguing that the party leadership should take responsibility for promoting its candidate.
He also suggested that the President may not have been fully aware of how the campaign council was constituted, pointing to the complaints that followed its announcement.
Speaking on the performance of the administration, Ndume said the removal of fuel subsidy was one of the difficult but necessary decisions taken by President Tinubu, although he acknowledged that the policy had brought significant hardship to Nigerians.
He said the consequences of the subsidy removal remained one of the biggest political challenges facing the APC, noting that Nigerians were still waiting to see the promised benefits of the economic reforms.
Ndume, however, accused some of the President’s aides of worsening the situation by attacking critics instead of addressing concerns about government policies and performance.
He said presidential spokespersons should focus on responding to issues raised by critics rather than engaging in name-calling.
“When anybody makes a statement, the President’s spokespersons rush on TV to insult the person and call them names. That is not it. You take the points that person made about the system one after the other,” he said.
On the 2027 presidential election, Ndume advised opposition parties to focus on presenting credible alternative policies rather than engaging in personal attacks.
He also urged the APC to do more to explain its policies and their expected long-term benefits to Nigerians.
“The APC should concentrate on explaining to Nigerians what our government is doing, rather than abusing people,” he said.
Ndume further pointed to disagreements within the opposition over the future of fuel subsidy, citing the differing positions of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
While Atiku has suggested a return to subsidy, Obi has opposed bringing it back. Ndume said he agreed with Obi’s position, arguing that the problem was not the subsidy itself but the manner in which it had been managed.
He maintained that poor management of the subsidy regime had allowed what he described as “kakistocrats and kleptocrats” to exploit the system.
“Once you get rid of these guys and allow the system to work properly, Nigerians will see it,” Ndume said.
