The senator representing Borno south, Ali Ndume, does not always shy away from controversy. He is fearless and courageous and as such does not always shy away from saying his mind.

Though he has been cautioned many times by his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and even sanctioned, he has refused to be deterred from speaking truth to power.

Last week, he faulted President Bola Tinubu’s endorsement by APC governors, citing a similar incident ahead of the 2015 elections when 22 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) declared their support for then-President Goodluck Jonathan.

Ndume, a known critic of Tinubu, while speaking during a television programme, said he was not among the members of the APC who endorsed President Tinubu for a second term in office.

He recalled that Jonathan lost his re-election bid to Muhammadu Buhari of the APC despite the endorsement by 22 PDP governors.

The various stakeholders of the APC had during the party’s national summit recently held at the President Villa in Abuja, endorsed and adopted Tinubu as the party’s sole presidential candidate for the 2027 poll.

All the 22 governors who are members of the APC, the ruling party’s members at the National Assembly, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by the National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, endorsed the president for re-election during the event.

Many had faulted the ruling party for prioritising what they termed early campaign for Tinubu’s re-election instead of tackling the several challenges confronting the country.

Speaking on Tinubu’s endorsement, Ndume, who does not know how to pretend, said things are very bad in the country, adding that Nigerians have not seen any hope as promised in the Renewed Hope of the president

He added he did not support the decision of the APC governors, despite being at the Presidential Villa when the president was endorsed. 

Ndume also claimed that a cabal has hijacked Tinubu’s government and that “kleptocrats and kakistocrats” dominate the administration.

Ndume’s anti-Tinubu posturing has earned him “a lone-wolf opposition within the APC” appellation by the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga.