From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Senate Chief Whip and Senator representing Borno South in the Senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume has maintained his earlier position that the economic hardship in the country may trigger more trouble, warning the government against possible malnutrition in the country.
Ndume in an interview with some journalists in Maiduguri, Borno State on Friday said he was right that Nigerians are hungry and suffering.
“God is always with the person that speak the truth. So, I know I am not wrong. The people are not wrong by speaking the truth and I expect the president to look at what I have said and take appropriate measures to alleviate the suffering of the people,” he said while reacting to the backlash from his All Progressive Congress (APC) party over the July 10 interview with BBC Hausa service.
In the interview, Ndume alleged that President Bola Tinubu was inaccessible by some ministers and key National Assembly members who would have provided update on the presidency on the current economic situation. He said the food crisis is persisting for too long.
“We are afraid one day a person may go to the market one day and be confronted with a situation where there won’t be food to buy,” he said in the interview.
He said he has reviewed the interview several times, shared with friends, associates, elders and leaders across the country after the reaction from party, insisting that he was right.
“Therefore, I say I stand by all my statements in the interview I granted,
Quoting a former American President Franklin Roosevelt, Ndume said it is unpatriotic to stand by the president when things are going bad but patriotic to stand by the truth.
“People are suffering, people are hungry and not happy,” he stressed.
He also said he bore no ill feeling about his party’s directive for his removal as Senate Chief Whip. He said he was happy about his election as senator and his removal as an act of God through APC.