The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Senator Ali Ndume to exercise restraint following his criticism of President Bola Tinubu.

Ndume had, in an interview on Arise TV on Friday, said Nigeria is in the hands of leaders who are unfit to govern and only prioritise their personal interests over the well-being of the nation and Nigerians at large.

The Senate Chief Whip stressed the country’s food insecurity and crisis, which, according to him, the United Nations (UN), World Food Programme and Action Against Hunger currently ranks among the world’s worst hotspots.

“In the countries that face severe food crisis or food insecurity this time around, check the figures published by the UN, World Food Programme, Action Against Hunger, they rank Nigeria as one of the hotspots and for people like me, I have to be scared,” he said.

“I am 64 years old with 10 children and 20 grandchildren. I don’t have a passport or visa to anywhere. You have more than one, I know. You stay in Nigeria and you can go to London tomorrow morning.

“I can’t do that because I don’t have a visa to anywhere. This is a very serious and scary situation and most importantly, why I am so scared is if those in power do not allow the President to know the magnitude or get informed about the current situation so that they can do something, then you get worried.”

The APC, reacting in a statement signed by its spokesman, Felix Morka, said that as a senior party man and senator of the nation, Ndume should exercise restraint and quit his penchant for unhelpful attention-seeking media posturing.

“The latest outburst in the media by the senator representing Borno South and Chief Whip of the 10th Senate, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, claiming that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been ‘caged’ and unaware of existential challenges in the country is as haughty as it is unnecessary,” the APC spokesman said.

“As a Senator of the Federal Republic, Ndume has the platform of the National Assembly to raise and address matters that he may consider to be in the national interest. He also has access to the entire machinery of the federal government of Nigeria.

“Senator Ndume did not explain the use to which he has put this enormous access in seeking solutions to concerns that he may have. It is understandable if Senator Ndume feels frustrated by his suggested inability to access the President. But that does not warrant or justify his outlandish declaration that the President has been caged in some way or ensconced from the reality of conditions in the country. Senator Ndume’s heedless comments smack of an indulgent sense of entitlement to see the President on a whim.”

Morka said the President is busy doing the job to which he was elected by the Nigerian people, adding that Tinubu is the head of government of which there are many critical parts equipped with the power to process and deal with a wide range of simple to complex social, economic, political, or security challenges.

According to the APC spokesman, the president’s time is required to be used judiciously in attending to important matters of the nation.

Morka further pointed out some of the steps taken by the Federal Government to develop Nigeria, noting that on July 4, 2024, the President inaugurated the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) and launched the Economic Stabilization Programme to ensure food security, improved power supply, enhanced social welfare, healthcare, increased energy production, and general economic transformation.

“Further, a couple of days ago, President Tinubu was in an important meeting with leaders of organised labour on the issue of the new minimum wage,” he explained.

“President Tinubu meets and interacts regularly with citizens, officials, and guests from all walks of life, as his schedule permits. He has continued to superintend the formulation and implementation of policy and programme measures aimed at mitigating prevailing economic conditions and boosting availability and price access to food and other essential commodities.

“In similar vein, President Tinubu recently signed an Executive Order aimed at reducing the high cost of drugs; approved tax waivers for the importation of some food items in the bid to crash prices and ensure food sufficiency. He also directed the Armed Forces to combat and defeat the resurgence of acts of terror, among many other important engagements that speak eloquently to his command of the situation in the country.”

Morka said what Nigeria needs is for all hands to be on deck on the cusp of national transformation, each doing their part to remake the social, economic, and security conditions in the best interest of our people.