Daud Olatunji
Former Senate Leader and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Ali Ndume, has urged President Bola Tinubu to overhaul his administration and remove officials he described as “kakistrocrats,” warning that their continued presence would expose the government to further embarrassment.
Ndume, the Borno South Senator, said the alleged operation of a fake government agency within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation was evidence of serious lapses in the supervision of the administration.
The senator spoke on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time.
“Kakistocracy” refers to a system of government allegedly controlled by the least competent or corrupt people.
Ndume said the recent scandal had vindicated his earlier concerns about the quality of some officials around the President.
“Already, I’ve been vindicated on that, as to saying that my concern is that the President has so many kakistrocrats that dominate the presidency,” he said.
“And I still maintain that unless he does something about it, they will continue to mess him up.
“You can imagine, right now, it’s now a known thing in Nigeria; we had a fake agency that operated and even had an office, and they don’t know, they don’t know.”
The senator was reacting to the Federal Government’s response to the alleged operation of the disputed National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office and other questionable entities.
President Tinubu had ordered the arrest of Nwabueze George, identified as the national coordinator of the disputed agency, following revelations surrounding its activities within the premises of the SGF’s office.
The President also ordered the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries after findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, said the discovery formed part of a broader investigation into the activities of the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and other procedural weaknesses within government.
While commending Tinubu for taking action, Ndume said the President needed to go beyond immediate disciplinary measures and address what he described as the deeper administrative failures responsible for such controversies.
“I give the President credit. That is why I insist that if he had capable hands, all this mess and embarrassment wouldn’t be happening,” Ndume said.
He, however, questioned why the President had not, in his view, taken sufficient action to prevent a recurrence.
“And he’s still, you know, I don’t know why, and he’s still not taking the appropriate action on it,” the senator added.
Ndume’s criticism comes amid growing scrutiny of the effectiveness of government agencies and the supervision of officials occupying sensitive positions within the Tinubu administration.
He maintained that putting competent hands in strategic positions was necessary if the President was to avoid being repeatedly exposed to controversies arising from the conduct of officials serving under him.
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