The leadership of Labour Party (LP) condemned Ndume’s removal as Chief Whip because he stood with the suffering masses. LP said the action signified that in the current dispensation, “speaking truth to power” had become a crime in Nigeria.
The Labour Party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said the humiliation of Ndume by the Akpabio-led senate portrayed the dictatorial inclination of the ruling APC.
LP said Ndume’s crime was the bold expression of his concerns regarding the escalating cost of living and food scarcity in Nigeria, and his revelation that Tinubu had chosen to play the ostrich even in the face of acute starvation in Nigeria.
LP stated, “The dimension this administration is taking is grave. A few months ago, Senator Abdul Ningi exposed the rot in the government, where the senate leadership and the executive collaborators, allegedly, padded the budget. That got him suspended and intimidated out of his lawful representative role as a senator.
“It is needless talking about the economic crisis ongoing in Nigeria even where a few cabal are massively enriching themselves. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently said that food inflation had risen to 40.66 per cent.
“Similarly, the 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition World report has it that the number of food-insecure Nigerians has also increased by 133 per cent in three years. It jumped from 63.8 million between 2014 and 2016 to 148.7 million between 2020 and 2022. It is even worse at the moment.
“Even with all these glaring and scaring challenges, the government is said to have paid about N150 billion for a presidential jet, building roads that have no direct bearing with the economic crisis in Nigeria.
“The media practitioners are recoiling into their shelves for the fear of reporting the facts about this government for the fear of emasculation and incarceration.
“What is so democratic about the party in government making decision for an independent legislative arm on who takes up leadership role in our legislature. This is clearly the tyranny of a cabal against legislative autonomy.”
LP said, “Nigeria is gradually descending into dictatorship and we are calling on the citizens to be on the alert and put up a defence against the starvation weapon being deployed by this administration.” Chuks Okocha and Sunday Aborisade
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