Nigeria needs good leadership not third force —Ndume

Senate Majority Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, speaks with BOLA BADMUS on the renewed call for third force political platform being mooted by a section of the political class ahead of the 2019 general election, saying what Nigeria needs is good leadership which
President Muhammadu Buhari has been offering. Excerpts:

What is your response to report that a third force political platform is likely to emerge ahead of 2019 general election in the same manner that APC emerged from different political platforms to defeat the ruling PDP?

Well, politics is dynamic now. So, you cannot predict what will happen but only God knows.

From the people who are around you, I mean some politicians around you, are there none of them saying they are not comfortable with APC or PDP and so they want to seek for another platform by 2019 and take over power?

No, not me. I’m not aware of that. You know I don’t have any godfather. I am on my own as a politician. For me, I believe I have not lost confidence in the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

So, I am on Buhari’s side. I believe in his leadership. You know this country needs a leader. He has that capacity to lead the country. We need somebody that is transparent; we need somebody that is honest; we need somebody that has integrity. Buhari is a man that possesses these qualities.

But you have some politician and colleagues who are also grumbling now.

No, my friends cannot grumble if I am not grumbling, because we have the same political ideas. So, definitely, they would not be saying let’s look for another political platform. I don’t have personal issues. My concern is about the people that elected me, not my person.

Most of the people saying this and accusing the president are doing so more on personal basis. But I don’t have anything personal than politics. In fact, what this country needs is leadership. And now, we are lucky to have good leadership in person of Buhari who has been ensuring that we are not going to be running government and parliament as personal estates

What is your reaction to accusation that Buhari is slow and has not achieved much? People are hungry and are jobless and there is recession and that he is part of the problem.

I have been saying it is not the fault of Buhari that the price of crude is brought down. Is it the fault of Buhari that everything was destroyed? Is it his fault that we have economic downturn that the value of the naira has gone down? We are in the period of recession really, but many other countries have been witnessing it.

You see what is happening in Venezuela? You see what is happening in the United States? You see what is happening in Britain? You see what is happening in so many countries all over the world? So, it is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is not as if there is money and this man is embezzling it or using it for his personal benefit. Do you understand? The financial problem is a global phenomenon.