* Says: LP has yellow-carded old brigade politicians
The senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume, has alleged that politicians have started “buying” the leadership of the yet-to-be inaugurated 10th National Assembly (NASS).
Ndume, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, also said he would have won the Senate President seat in 2019 if he had money.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker also pushed for an “Unexplained Wealth Act” to deal with corrupt politicians with suspicious wealth.
Ndume said: “There should be Unexplained Wealth Act so that if you display wealth that is not in tandem with your income, you should be investigated and (the wealth) confiscated and if it is extensive, you should be prosecuted.
“Now, you can see what is happening, they are trying to buy the position. The position in the leadership of this country is becoming those that belong to kleptocrats and plutocrats. Democracy is no longer there.
“They are buying it already. Didn’t you the accusation that they are sharing money? And I was even thinking in the last election, if I had more money, I would have won. I don’t have money.”
The APC won majority of the legislative seats during the elections with over 55 Senate seats out of 109 and over 160 out of 360 House of Representatives seats.
Several APC chieftains and legislative member-elect have expressed interest in the highly coveted positions in the red and green chambers. They include Orji Kalu, Jibrin Barau, Godswill Akpabio, Dave Umahi, Ahmad Lawan, Abdulaziz Yari, Osita Izunaso, among others.
Meanwhile, Ndume has acknowledged that the sterling performance of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections surpassed his expectations, noting that invariably, youths and the middle class are getting tired of the older generation who have been in government for decades.
Asked if the outcome of the polls fitted his expectations, Ndume said: “Yeah, but there were surprises in some places – Lagos (and the) South-East. The performance of LP actually is above my expectation.”
Ndume, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, has been in the National Assembly for 20 years. The chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said he never thought that the flag bearer of the Labour Party, Peter Obi could get over six million votes at the poll over a months ago.
Asked if he ever thought that Peter Obi could pull such strings, Ndume said: “Yeah, even in the general elections all over, especially. He (Obi) had six million votes.
“It goes to tell something that people don’t talk about: and that is to say that the signs are out there that the middle income group or social group and the youths are getting tired of the – do I even include myself? — upper level: people in their 70s and 80s who have been in the corridors of power since they were in their 30s.”
At the February 25 poll, APC’s Bola Tinubu, 70, came out tops in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, and secured significant numbers in several other states to claim the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival — former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Atiku, 76, who has now run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while the LP candidate (Obi), who, in less than a year, galvanised young voters in a manner some have described as unprecedented finished the race with 6,101,533.