Onyekachi Eze 
Atiku Abubakar yesterday condemned Ali Ndume’s removal as Senate Chief Whip on Wednesday, accusing the National Assembly of “becoming an enabler of recklessness”.
The former Vice President said the manner of Ndume’s removal means “democracy is being compromised by this unholy alliance between the executive and the legislature”.
The Senate removed Ndume, who represents Borno South in the Upper House, as Chief Whip and replaced him with the representative of Borno North Mohammed Monguno.
This came after he launched another scathing attack on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government. In a statement, Atiku said Ndume suffered a similar punishment as Abdul Ningi, who was suspended after he claimed that the 2024 budget was padded.
He said: “Regrettably, however, the democracy in Nigeria in the current administration of President Bola Tinubu has become an anathema to that general principle of democracy as providing primary protection for the people against executive excesses.
“This ugly tendency is being manifested by the steady posturing of our National Assembly, especially the Senate, of taking a reverse course in its core function and becoming a puppet in the hands of the President.
“It is uncharitable that whenever members of the Senate stand on the floor of the red chamber to perform their statutory duty of caution to the executive, they are immediately reprimanded for doing so.”
He also referred to the Senate’s approval of new aircraft for the presidential fleet despite “the excruciating hardship in the land”.
Atiku said: “The Senate took a stand against the people and ignored the voices of altruism by decorating the President with controversial purchases of an aircraft and a yacht amidst the worst material conditions of the average citizen in the history of our country.
“We are, therefore, beginning to see a pattern in which the National Assembly has become an enabler of executive recklessness, and the concerns of the people stand in the nadir of the priority list of the legislature.”
The ex-VP added: “Today, the people of Nigeria are victims of an ambiguous budget framework upon which appropriations for the current fiscal year are hinged in the face of a multiplicity of appropriations.”
