The Labour Party leadership questioned the democratic nature of the ruling party and dictated leadership choices for an independent legislative branch.

The Labour Party (LP) leadership has condemned Senator Ali Ndume’s removal from his position as Senate chief whip.

Pulse reports that during a plenary session on Wednesday, July 17, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read a letter from the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) demanding Ndume’s removal as a principal officer in the 10th Senate.

The APC also urged Ndume, a vocal critic of President Bola Tinubu, to resign and join an opposition party of his choice.

In a statement on Wednesday, Obiora Ifoh, the LP’s National Publicity Secretary, said that Ndume’s removal indicated that speaking truth to power has become a punishable offense in Nigeria.

Ifoh added that the Senate’s treatment of Ndume was not just harsh but a clear indication of a tendency towards dictatorship.

Labour Party's submission on Ndume's saga

Senator Ali Ndume. [Facebook/Getty Images]

“The crime of Senator Ndume was his bold expression of his concerns regarding the escalating cost of living and food scarcity in Nigeria, and his revelation that President Bola Tinubu has chosen to play the ostrich even in the face of acute starvation being witnessed in Nigeria.”

“The dimension this administration is taken is grave. Few months ago, Senator Abdul Ningi exposed the rot in the government where the Senate leadership and the executive collaborators allegedly padded the budget. That got him suspended and intimidated out of his lawful representative role as a senator.

“It is needless talking about the economic crisis on going in Nigeria even where a few cabal are massively enriching themselves. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently said that food inflation has risen to 40.66 percent.

“Even with all these glaring and scaring challenges, the government is said to have paid about N150bn for a presidential jet, building roads that have no direct bearing with the economic crises in Nigeria,” Ifoh said.

He questions the democratic nature of the ruling party, dictating leadership choices for an independent legislative branch.

“This is clear a tyranny of a cabal against the legislative autonomy. Nigeria is gradually descending into dictatorship, and we are calling on the citizens to be on an alert and put up a defence against the starvation weapon being deployed by this administration,” he said.