Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s inner circle, saying the president is being poorly served by advisers who lack political understanding and grassroots connection.
Speaking Wednesday on ARISE Television’s Prime Time, Ndume warned that growing dissatisfaction in the North could affect electoral outcomes if urgent action is not taken. “Anybody that tells you that the North is not grumbling now is not telling the truth,” he said. “It will be loud in their votes if nothing is done about it. The good thing about it is that the President can turn things around.”
Ndume said northern leaders have tried to engage Tinubu constructively and noted that he personally participated in meetings between the president and northern elders. “In the North, northern elders have been reaching out. I was part of the first and the last meeting with Mr. President when northern elders went to him,” he said. “He was prepared, he brought all the critical appointees from the North and we had a wonderful session.”
According to the senator, the engagement stalled after initial assurances. “He promised that it would continue, but it never happened,” Ndume said.
While absolving Tinubu of direct blame, Ndume said the president’s challenges stem largely from the calibre of people around him. “You know what I’m suspecting? The President is not the problem; it is the people around the President that are the problem,” he said.
He contrasted Tinubu’s current leadership team with his time as Lagos State governor, which he described as marked by strong and capable advisers. “The President had good people around him when he was governor of Lagos; that was why he succeeded,” Ndume said. “Most of the good people are not there now. They have been sidelined.”
