Tinubu govt run by kleptocrats who block access to president, demand bribes, says Ndume

Senator Ali Ndume has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Tinubu’s inner circle, accusing top officials of running the government like a private cartel and monetising access to the president amid growing diplomatic tension with the United States.

Ndume, who spoke on Arise Television on Tuesday night, said the administration’s failure to appoint ambassadors, especially during a sensitive diplomatic dispute with Washington, showed “a lack of capacity and seriousness” at the highest levels of government.

The senator was reacting to President Donald Trump’s recent threat to deploy U.S. forces to Nigeria over alleged persecution of Christians, an issue that has triggered intense diplomatic pushback in Abuja.

Ndume blamed the crisis partly on Nigeria’s poor diplomatic engagement, saying: “Do you know we don’t have ambassadors anywhere? We don’t even have a representative at the United Nations. If small issues like this go unattended, they can cause irreversible damage.”

He accused powerful aides around Tinubu of blocking lawmakers, ministers and key stakeholders from seeing the president unless money changes hands.

“I don’t have access to the president. The only time you can see him is when he attends events. If you want to see the president officially, they ask you how much. The government is dominated by kleptocrats. I’ve said it before,” Ndume insisted.

He added that the environment around the presidency is controlled by “kakistocrats and kleptocrats” – a term referring to government run by the least qualified and most corrupt.

“These are people the president came in with over two and a half years ago. They don’t have the capacity. They don’t have the contacts. We have respected diplomats in this country – Bolaji Akinyemi, Emeka Anyaoku, Amina Mohammed. But this government is not using them,” he said.

Ndume argued that the diplomatic row could have been managed quickly if Nigeria had senior statesmen or ambassadors actively engaging Washington: “It takes Mr. President one phone call to request an audience with President Trump. Why did we wait two years?”