Chief Whip of the Senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has responded to Kogi West senator, Sunday Karimi, following Karimi’s remarks on Wednesday.
Karimi had criticized Ndume for his statement about relocating certain departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to Lagos State.
Ndume, who represents Borno South in the Senate, stated that President Tinubu was receiving poor advice from individuals in power in Lagos.
However, Karimi stated that Ndume’s statement did not reflect the views of Northern senators.
In response to Karimi’s comment, Ndume clarified that he was not speaking on behalf of the Northern senators or the Senate, but rather as a Northerner supporting the majority of Northerners.
“With all due respect, I did not speak on behalf of the Northern Senators or the Senate but as a Northerner in support of the majority of Northerners and some Nigerians who are against the action of CBN Governor and the Minister of Aviation.
“A famous former American President said ‘Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country.
“It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise, he fails in his duty to stand by the country.
“In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else,” Ndume said.
Ndume quoted Theodore Roosevelt, but he also included this other passage from the renowned American president: “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
