The leadership of Labour Party (LP) has condemned the removal of Senator Ali Ndume as the chief whip of the senate.
At plenary on Wednesday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read a letter from the leadership of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) demanding the removal of Ndume as a principal officer in the 10th senate.
The party also asked Ndume, who has been very critical of President Bola Tinubu, to resign and join any opposition party of his choice.
But responding in a statement on Wednesday, Obiora Ifoh, National Publicity Secretary of the party, said Ndume’s removal clearly signified that speaking truth to power is now a crime in Nigeria.
Ifoh said the humiliation of Ndume by the senate is portraying dictatorial inclination.
“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 wonder what can be called democratic about the party in government making decision for an independent legislative arm on who takes up leadership role in the nation’s legislature.
He said, “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.”