*Pix below(l-r): Atiku Abubakar and PBAT
Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has described the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, as a tool in the hands of the executive for recklessness in abandon.
Atiku was reacting to the removal of Borno State Senator Ali Ndume as the Senate Chief Whip over his severe criticism of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Ndume’s removal on Wednesday was sequel to a letter by the national leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, demanding Ndume’s removal.
In the letter signed by its National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, and Secretary, Ajibola Bashiru, the APC warned Ndume against attacking the party, advising him to consider leaving the party.
But reacting in a statement on Thursday, Atiku said, “We are beginning to see a pattern in which the National Assembly has become an enabler of executive recklessness, and the concerns of the people stand in the nadir of the priority list of the legislature.
“This emerging reality must stop. The health of our democracy is being compromised by this unholy alliance between the executive and the legislature and portends a dictatorship that will worsen the lot of the people.”
The ex-Vice President said it was regrettable that “the democracy in Nigeria under the current administration of President Bola Tinubu has become an anathema to that general principle of democracy as providing primary protection for the people against executive excesses.”
“This ugly tendency is being manifested by the steady posturing of our National Assembly, especially the Senate, of taking a reverse course in its core function and becoming a puppet in the hands of the President.”
Atiku described the situation as unfair, stating that whenever senators fulfilled their duty to hold the executive accountable on the Senate floor, they were reportedly chastised for it.
“When Senator Abdul Ningi called the attention of the country to the incident of budget padding in the 2024 Appropriation Bill, rather than calling for a thorough investigation into the observation, the reaction of the Senate was to hand him a suspension.
“Today, the people of Nigeria are victims of an ambiguous budget framework upon which appropriations for the current fiscal year are hinged in the face of a multiplicity of appropriations.
“Only yesterday, Senator Ali Ndume called for the President to wake up to his responsibilities and provide succour to address the biting hunger and poverty in the country.
“Ironically, the response of the @NGRSenate to his patriotic warning is to relieve him of his principal office as the Chief Whip of the Senate,” he said, accusing the lawmakers of misplacing their priorities.(agency)/###
