The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has criticised Borno South Senator, Mohammed Ali Ndume, for what he described as decades of underperformance in the National Assembly.
Speaking on Channels Television’s current affairs programme – ‘Sunday Politics’ – monitored by our correspondent on Sunday night, Bwala compared Ndume’s 22-year legislative career to that of the suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central and has spent less than two years in the Senate.
“This is a Senator who has been a lawmaker for the past 22 years; four years as a House of Representatives member, and about 16 years as a senator. Yet, 120,000 of his constituents are still in Cameroon as internally displaced persons,” Bwala claimed.
He accused Ndume of failing to use his positions of power effectively. According to Bwala, during his times as Majority Leader and chairman of the Senate Committees on Defence and Army, Ndume took no meaningful steps to resettle his displaced constituents.
“If you want, I can give you the figures of the money allocated to Southern Borno as constituency projects, but there is no single project to show for it,” he further claimed.
“He has never had a bill passed. In fact, 90 per cent of his bills don’t even make it past second reading, they are dismissed outright, not even brought up for debate.”
Bwala further debunked Ndume’s claim of sponsoring the bill that established the North-East Development Commission (NEDC).
“He goes about parading himself as the sponsor of the bill that established the North-East Development Commission, it’s a lie. It was Senator (Murtala) Nyako who sponsored that bill.”
When the TV host, Seun Okinbaloye, asked if Bwala’s criticism of Borno South Senator was fair, pointing to evidence of Ndume’s touring of his constituency and engaging with his people, Bwala dismissed it.
“Is going to visit people now a project? Money has been sent to that place for actual projects. Even the boreholes he said he drilled, they are dry,” he said.
He also alleged that Ndume’s political success has often relied on state power rather than popular support.
“He has never won a primary. It is always handed to him. He hides behind the governor during visits. In fact, he was stoned in his village in 2023,” Bwala claimed.
He also criticised Ndume for not using the media to advocate for the return of displaced Borno South residents still in Cameroon.
“He should be using the media to call on the president to help bring his people back from Cameroon,” Bwala said.
In contrast, Bwala praised the embattled Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, saying in just less than two years in office, she has already outshone Ndume’s over two decades in the legislature.
“This Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has spent less than two years in office, yet she has done far more for her constituency than Ndume has in 22 years. I challenge him to come out and tell us what he has done. Even the House of Reps members from his constituency have done better than him,” Bwala added.
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