The Coalition of Northeast Elders Forum (CNEF) has alleged that Senator Ali Ndume’s 20 years in the National Assembly have not helped Borno state, saying he should stop attacking President Bola Tinubu or they mobilize voters against him in 2027.
The elders urged Ndume to assist his brother from Borno, Vice President Kashim Shettima instead of speaking against President Tinubu.
The Northeast elders who asked Ndume to render an account of his stewardship were angry at the Senator’s recent outburst about Tinubu’s administration, which they described as unnecessary.
The Coalition of North-East Elders Forum questioned the rationale behind such, when he is expected to support the President to tackle insecurity and other challenges caused by insurgents and bandits in Borno and the Northern region.
According to the elders, the lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District has, allegedly, not used his over twenty years in the National Assembly to change the bad situation.
“Senator Ndume did attack the administration of President Bola Tinubu, saying it’s run by kakistocrats—those deemed the least qualified and most unscrupulous citizens—and kleptocrats, who are merely in power to steal,” the elders alleged.
In reaction to the outburst, the group in a statement signed by the Coordinator, Alhaji Ali Ibrahim Sheriff, said what was “expected from Senator Ali Ndume now is to work closely with the President; Vice President, who is from same Borno with him and security agencies to address the unprovoked attacks by insurgents and bandits in the North.”
“As concerned elders from the Northeast geo-political zone, we wonder why during the days of President Buhari he chose to be silent amid heightened problems of insecurity; pervasive hunger, looting of public funds and bad governance.”
While telling the Chief Whip of the Senate to be sensitive to the yearnings of his people in Borno and the entire North, they asked him to. give an account of his stewardship over the last 20 years as a lawmaker.
“If leadership is as easy as that, we make bold to ask, all these years, how many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has he trained; educated and empowered with funds allocated to him?”
“Ndume should come out boldly to render an account of his stewardship or we mobilise voters against him come 2027,” they said.
The elders however, called on Northerners to shun what they termed, “Ndume’s divisive vituperations” and support the Tinubu and Shettima’s administration to tackle the security challenges in the North and in other parts of the country.