Ndume’s removal an assault on democracy, says prof

Abubakar Kari, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Abuja, has condemned the removal of Senator Ali Ndume as the chief whip of the senate. At plenary on Wednesday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read a letter from the leadership of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) demanding the removal of Ndume as a principal […]

Abubakar Kari, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Abuja, has condemned the removal of Senator Ali Ndume as the chief whip of the senate.

At plenary on Wednesday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read a letter from the leadership of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) demanding the removal of Ndume as a principal officer in the 10th senate.

The party also asked Ndume, who has been very critical of President Bola Tinubu, to resign and join any opposition party of his choice.

But in a chat with Daily Trust, Kari described Ndume’s removal as an assault to democracy.

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He said, “It’s very unfortunate, and it stands condemned by all true democrats and lovers of democracy. Democracy is a tradition; it has some cardinal principles. One of them is freedom of expression.

“Anytime the right of an individual or group to express themselves is denied, it is a direct assault on democracy, and that is the position from which I see this issue of Ndume.

“The APC as a party and the Senate as an institution collectively assaulted democracy. I don’t think this will augur well for democratic growth and consolidation, where individuals are not allowed to freely assert themselves within the ambit of the law.

“No one has come out to point to anything, whether in the constitution or laws of the land, that Ndume violated.

“It also shows political intolerance and a lack of internal party democracy. The APC is supposed to be a democratic party. It is supposed to be a party that preaches, practices, and operates on the basis of democracy. But it stands guilty and condemned for assaulting democracy.”

Last week, Ndume stated in an interview that the president had been fenced off and caged.

“Nigerians are getting very angry. The government is not doing anything about the food scarcity, and it needs to do something urgently. We don’t have a food reserve. There is an unavailability of food. The food crisis is the worst crisis that any nation can encounter. If we add that to the security crisis, it will be severe,” he had said.

His remarks triggered reactions from the pro-Tinubu camp, with both Senator Sunday Karimi (Kogi West) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) criticising his statement as derogatory.