Tinubu Should Remove ‘Kakistocrats’ Around Him Before They Ruin His Government — Ndume

Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has urged President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action against officials he described as “kakistocrats” within the Presidency, warning that their continued influence could undermine his administration.

Ndume made the call while reacting to the composition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.

The senator said his major concern was not the campaign council itself but the competence of some individuals 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,” Ndume said.

He cited recent controversies involving a government agency and the suspension of a permanent secretary in the Presidency as examples of what he described as weaknesses within the administration.

“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,” he said.

Ndume, however, commended Tinubu for allowing investigations into the matter but argued that the President needed to take further steps to prevent similar incidents.

“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 is still not taking the appropriate action on it,” he said.

Ndume Questions Tinubu’s Role in APC Campaign Council

Commenting on the APC’s 2027 Presidential Campaign Council, Ndume questioned why Tinubu was named chairman of the campaign structure.

According to him, the APC leadership should be responsible for promoting the President’s achievements rather than having the presidential candidate campaign for himself.

“People put up the presidential campaign committee. If I had the ear of Mr President, there was no need for a presidential campaign committee,” he said.

Ndume argued that the APC National Chairman should head the campaign effort because Tinubu is the party’s presidential candidate and its product.

“The President is the product of the party. The owner of a product should be the one selling the product, not the product selling itself,” he said.

“He shouldn’t be on it; it should be the National Chairman of the party.”

The lawmaker also suggested that the President might not have been fully involved in the process that produced the campaign council, pointing to the complaints that emerged after its announcement.

“From what happened, you can see that even the President was not fully aware. Why would there be complaints?” he asked.

Ndume stressed that his concerns were not driven by personal interests or partisan considerations but by his desire to see Nigeria’s political system strengthened.

“I know the man. But why am I worried? It’s not about my party; it’s about politics in Nigeria,” he said.

Subsidy Removal and Economic Hardship

The senator also defended the decision by the Tinubu administration to remove petrol subsidy, describing the policy as necessary while acknowledging the hardship it had imposed on Nigerians.

He said many Nigerians had supported the removal of subsidy but were now struggling with the consequences of higher living costs.

“The President himself acknowledged that there is hardship as a result of the policies, but promised Nigerians that there will be light at the end of the tunnel,” Ndume said.

He, however, warned that the prolonged economic hardship could become a major political challenge for the APC ahead of the 2027 elections.

According to him, Nigerians are increasingly concerned about when the expected benefits of the administration’s economic reforms will begin to translate into meaningful relief.

Ndume also criticised some presidential aides for what he described as worsening the government’s public image by responding to criticism with personal attacks.

“We are saying that the staff or people he has around him are the major problem. Instead of talking about ideas and events, they have small minds and talk about people,” he said.

He advised presidential spokespersons to focus on responding to the substance of criticisms rather than attacking those raising concerns.

“When anybody makes a statement, the President’s spokespersons rush on TV to insult the person and call them names. That is not it,” Ndume said.

“You take the points that person made about the system one after the other.”