•Lawmaker denies announcing support for president’s 2027 aspiration  

•Insists govt has been hijacked

A former Senate Chief Whip and lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District, Senator Ali Ndume, has advised President Bola Tinubu not to be carried away by the recent gale of endorsements for the 2027 election, reminding him that although ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was backed by 22 state governors, he still lost in 2015.

Speaking during an interview on a national television’s Sunday Politics programme, Ndume also refuted the imputation that he was among those who recently endorsed the president, although he was at the Villa when the event took place.

Ndume stated that there’s a lot of hardship in Nigeria, stating that there are a lot of bootlickers around the president, who are not allowing him see through the facts on the ground.

 “I was there, but that was not why I was there; I was there for a summit, and when I realised that it was not a summit and a voice vote was put about the endorsement of Mr President, I just left, and that does not mean I am not an APC member. The majority had its way, but few of us felt that was not right.

 “It happened before, not once, not twice. It happened during Jonathan. That does not mean anything. Politicians are decamping, but the people who are the voters are not decamping. I don’t have access to Mr President, but I hope that he would look back historically and see that the gathering of people to endorse you does not mean anything.

 “Jonathan had 22 governors then endorsing him, like was done now. And what happened? Jonathan lost woefully. And even that time, what happened? A lot of money was spent. Over N2 billion or whatever. Even the election was shifted, but we are not learning our lessons. I pity Mr President for this kind of thing,” the senator stated.

Besides, Ndume alleged that the current government has been hijacked by “kleptocrats” and “kakistocrats”, stressing that those surrounding the President were doing him more harm than good.

 “I see people lying and telling the President what he wants to hear. My position is that the people who are supposed to help him are the ones deceiving him or damaging his image,” he said.

According to him, rather than acting as a support system, the President’s aides , whom he described as unrealistic people , have effectively “kidnapped” the presidency.

 “They are unrealistic people. I said it before and I’m not changing my position until they change or the President does something. I still believe the government is more or less dominated by kleptocrats and even kakistocrats,” he alleged.

He described kakistocrats as people holding positions they are not supposed to be in, while kleptocrats are those in politics for personal gain and not for public service.

 “The President cannot go out to the streets like myself and know how the people feel. Even outside the villa, they would drive him in tinted glass so he doesn’t even see what is going on.

People are not happy, and the President himself is not pretending. He acknowledges there is hardship and has asked Nigerians to be patient,” he added.

Two years after Tinubu took over the reins of government, Ndume stated that ‘things are not working’ in Nigeria, highlighting the increasing poverty and overwhelming insecurity nationwide.

Ndume stated that history could repeat itself if Tinubu fails to address what he described as “crippling economic hardship” and a growing wave of public discontent.

According to the federal lawmaker, the mass endorsements and public support seen within the APC may offer a false sense of security that could unravel at the polls just like in Jonathan’s case.

According to him, this development of endorsements was uncalled for, with just two years into the current administration.

 “Even though he once said this is not the time for campaigns, look around, the campaigning has already started under the guise of endorsements” he added, urging Tinubu to listen to the people and not the sycophants around him.

Besides, Ndume argued that the president should act swiftly and implement people-centred policies that directly improve the lives of Nigerians, explaining that things can be turned around in a year with the right decisions.

 “There’s still time to turn things around.“The suffering we’re talking about is just within two years. If in the next one or two years, the president can make Nigerians happy, really happy, then nobody will contest against him,” he argued.