The situation in the country has created more enemies for the president, even some top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have made strong criticism of the president’s policies.
Among these critics are two high-ranking senators from the APC and the PDP, who have been vocal about the administration of President Tinubu. However, they have been tactically silenced after the Senate and their party took action against them.
The two senators in question are Senator Abdul Ningi from Bauchi State and Senator Ali Ndume. Below are what they do and how they were silenced:
Abdul Ningi
Ningi is a senator of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), representing the Bauchi Central Senatorial District in the Red Chamber. He had been in the National Assembly since 1999 when he was first elected to represent the Ningi federal constituency in the House of Representatives.
He was elected into the Senate in 2011, where he served as the deputy majority leader under the PDP. He had been re-elected into the Upper Chamber for four consecutive times.
Senator Ningi was suspended by the Godswill Akpabio-led 10th Senate after he alleged that the 2024 budget was padded with over three trillion and was being implemented by President Bola Tinubu-led federal government.
Ali Ndume
The Senator representing Borno South was one of Nigeria’s outspoken lawmakers. He had been in the National Assembly since 2003 when he was first elected to the House of Representatives.
Like Ningi, Ndume was elected to the Senate in 2011 and subsequently re-elected to represent the people of Borno South Senatorial District in 2015, 2019 and 2023.
In July 2024, the APC and the APC Senate caucus wrote to the leadership of the Chamber to remove him as the Chief Whip following his comment that President Tinubu has been “caged” and that he was unaware of the hardship and hunger in the country.
The APC then asked Ndume to resign from the party and join the opposition, but the senator was yet to heed such a call. He was replaced by Tahir Mungoro, another senator representing Borno North.
Obi commented on Tinubu’s 2025 budget increment
Legit.ng earlier reported that GPeter Obi of the Labour Party has called for transparency and accountability as President Bola Tinubu wrote to the National Assembly to increase the 2025 budget from N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion.
Obi maintained that though the presidency mentioned the source of the increment, he noted that no breakdown justified the increment.
The Labour Party flagbearer demanded the expenditure breakdown of the 2024 budget, adding that Nigerians needed to know how their money was being spent.
