Senator Ali Ndume, former Senate leader and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged President Bola Tinubu to remove what he described as “kakistrocrats” from his administration, warning that their continued presence would expose the presidency to more controversies and embarrassment.
Ndume made the call during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Wednesday, citing the recent fake government agency scandal as evidence of serious lapses within the administration.
The Borno South senator argued that the presence of incompetent officials in the government was responsible for some of the controversies confronting the Tinubu administration.
“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,” Ndume 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.”
A kakistocracy refers to a system of government allegedly run by the least competent or most corrupt people.
Ndume’s comments came after Tinubu ordered the arrest of Nwabueze George over the alleged operation of a fake government agency within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
George was identified as the national coordinator of the disputed National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office.
Tinubu also ordered the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries following findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu said the discovery emerged from a broader investigation into the activities of the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and other procedural weaknesses within government.
While commending Tinubu for taking action over the scandal, Ndume questioned why the president had yet to take what he considered sufficient measures to prevent similar incidents.
“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,” he said.
“And he’s still, you know, I don’t know why, and he’s still not taking the appropriate action on it.”
