Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has expressed concern over the increasing wave of defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by governors from opposition parties as well as federal lawmakers in both chambers of the National Assembly.
Ndume, spoke on Sunday night during the late Nnamdi Azikiwe Annual Award Lecture at NICON Luxury, Abuja.
Delivering his acceptance speech after receiving the award for “Most Outstanding Legislator and Advocate of National Unity,” the Senator representing Borno South cautioned that the APC risks an internal implosion, claiming that many of those defecting to the party have no real value to add.
“I have warned that the APC is becoming overloaded and when you overload a ship, especially with mostly empty cargo, it risks capsizing. If it capsizes, the owner of the ship will face a bigger problem. That is the situation we find ourselves in today”, he said.
Ndume added that the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) appears uncomfortable playing the role of minority or opposition, stressing that neither the President nor APC leadership has gone out of their way to persuade opposition leaders to cross over.
“We must remember a common saying that charity begins at home. Let us be united. Please, Mr. Chairman, let us be united behind our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu With unity, we can move this country forward”, he said.
Ndume described President Tinubu as a true leader but argued that one person cannot shoulder the burden of governance alone.
“Some may be surprised because I am often critical of the administration. I speak out because I fear that people may think we are failing. Yet we have a leader who is willing to listen.”
“As the Honourable Justice rightly pointed out, we suffer from a lack of leadership, not because the president is not leading, but because one person cannot be the captain, the player, the goalkeeper, and the striker all at once.
“When one person is left to run the entire field alone, nothing substantial can be achieved.
He urged present-day public office holders to emulate the selfless service of First Republic leaders, specifically Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, former Western Region Premier and opposition leader Chief Obafemi Awolowo, former Northern Region Premier, Ahmadu Bello.
“They are long gone but their legacies live on. Azikiwe lived for the unity of Nigeria and I am happy a lot of people acknowledged his contributions. Leaders of the First Republic were selfless, not leaders we have now who are bothered about their pockets. I am always happy when people say good things about Zik and what he did”, Ndume added,
