Ali Ndume, chief whip of the senate, has given Muhammadu Buhari a “thumbs-up” for “being a more accessible president”.
Buhari was civilian president from 2015 to 2023.
Speaking in an interview on Arise TV on Friday, Ndume said
it is difficult to have an appointment with President Bola Tinubu because the
nation’s leader has been “shielded from reality” by some of his appointees.
Ndume added that during the administration of Olusegun
Obasanjo “who was older than our president is now, in 24 hours, any senator has
access to him, ministers go in and out. That is politics. You talk to the
people, hear from the people”.
Obasanjo was president from 1999 to 2007.
Ndume, who represents Borno south senatorial district in the
red chamber, added that access to Tinubu is not this difficult outside the
walls of the presidential villa.
“If you know the president before now, you would know that
the whole scenario has changed,” Ndume said.
“This is somebody, he
stays in Lagos… if you go to Bourdillon, any day, any time in the night, you
can go to Bourdillon at 2 O’clock in the morning and in most cases you would
find President Tinubu receiving people and seeing them off.
“But now, if you go to the front of the villa, it’s like a
graveyard because they don’t allow anybody to go and see Mr. President.
“During Buhari’s administration, which I thought was not
that good… but if you compare this now to Buhari’s regime, you would give
Buhari a thumbs-up. At least Buhari opens up, people come to see him.”
Ndume reiterated that most ministers do not have access to
the president.
“There are some
ministers who don’t have access to Mr. President. The only access they have to
Mr. President is when they are invited. And some may never be invited,” he
added.
“Or they can see the president when they go for council
meetings. And you know, when they go for council meetings, by the time the
president walks in, all of them are seated. And the president is always the
first to leave.”
The senator said some of the president’s aides may be doing
him more harm than good.
“Besides shielding Mr. President, they always give him
assurance that everything is all right out there. And that is not the case,” he
said.
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