Hardship: Senators, Ministers Not Allowed To See Tinubu For Consultations – Ndume

Senator Ali Ndume has alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu no longer makes himself available to top government officials to see him to discuss issues concerning the country.

Ndume, a ranking senator and Chairman Senate Committee on Army said it has now become difficult to have an audience  with the president, particularly concerning the hardship facing Nigerians.

The senator disclosed this on Wednesday in an interview with BBC Hausa Service in Kaduna.

His remarks comes on the heels of efforts by the federal government to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigeria due to the current economic hardship. Such efforts are seemingly not enough as the condition of Nigerians continue to worsen, analysts say.

Recall also that some high ranking officials in the Presidency have been accused of hijacking the Tinubu government by ensuring that a small circle of officials are the ones ruing his government .

For instance, a former Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung, has suggested early this year that President Tinubu’s government might be under siege by a cabal in his government.

Not a few Nigerians have been calling on the government to put its acts together by consulting with relevant stakeholders in the country to change the situation before it’s too late.

Speaking yesterday, Ndume said top government officials including senators now find it difficult to see Tinubu for consultation on how to move the country forward.

According to him, some cabinet ministers have also been prevented from seeing the president.

Senators, Ndume said, cannot see the president to discuss the issues affecting their constituencies, saying this is hindering steps to curb hunger in the country, warning that many Nigerians are already dying of malnutrition due to hunger.

If the current situation continues, he explained, ” we are afraid one day a person may go to the market with money and be confronted with a situation where there won’t be food to buy,” because of the inflation affecting the country.

“This is a matter of serious concern and something should be done quickly about it,” Ndume stated.

Dalung had in January suggested that Tinubu’s government was under siege “by the notorious cabal,” saying the president seemed to be far from Nigerians to know that the economic situation in the country has become unbearable.

In a post on his X handle on Monday, the former minister said that the President’s body language betrayed him completely from the social reality.

The ex-Minster said, “The President’s body language betrayed him completely from the social reality. He is in his own world distinct from the hardships confronting Nigerians. From my analysis of the speech, Nigeria is on auto pilot dangerous navigating turbulence.

“Does President Tinubu know that Nigerians are suffering? Certainly not, his reckless economic policies, wasteful expenditures, plundering of resources, insensitivity to plights of citizens, boastful and egoistic squandering of goodwill, adoption of corruption and nepotism as state policies are the characteristics of this ignoble regime.

“Sacrifice should begin with @officialABAT and his jumbo size government, then Nigerians can take him serious, but for now it’s mere rhetorics and propaganda.”