CHIEF Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Mohammed Ndume, has accused President Bola Tinubu of being out of touch with some of the issues plaguing the country, including food crisis and insecurity.
According to a report, Ndume told journalists on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, that the President had been “fenced off by plutocrats.”
He also said that poverty, insecurity, hunger and other problems confronting citizens were not being addressed by the President.
“The government is not doing anything about the food scarcity and it needs to do something urgently. We don’t have food reserve. There is unavailability of food. Food crisis is the worst crisis that any nation can encounter. If we add that to security crisis, it will be severe.
“The President should wake up, it seems he isn’t in the picture of what is happening because he has been caged off. He has been fenced off by plutocrats. He should open his doors and meet those who will tell him the truth. Unfortunately, the people who will tell him the truth won’t struggle to meet him,” Ndume stated
Earlier, Ndume had said during an interview that the President was inaccessible to some of his ministers and lawmakers.
He urged Tinubu to discuss with experts and stakeholders to arrive at possible solutions to the problems bedevilling the country.
“The major problem with this government is that its doors are closed, to the extent that even some ministers cannot see the President. Not to mention members of the National Assembly who do not have the opportunity to meet with him and discuss the issues affecting their constituencies.
“We want to draw the government’s attention to the fact that Nigeria is not only facing a high cost of living but also food scarcity. We want the President to intervene on the issue of high cost of living and food scarcity,” Ndume was quoted as saying.
Under Tinubu, Nigeria has faced snowballing prices of foods and persistent insecurity.
Inflation has also remained unmanageable under his watch.
Despite sweeping reforms that resulted in the suspension of fuel subsidy and unification of exchange rates, most Nigerians have continued to live in hardship.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.