Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has voiced serious concerns about the pervasive corruption in Nigeria.
Speaking to reporters in Kano on Sunday, he highlighted the alarming normalization of corrupt practices among politicians.
Ndume stated, “Our major challenge in this country is corruption. Up till now, we have no law that can proactively or reactively address the issue of corruption in the country. If you see somebody in our system, especially in politics or government and he is not corrupt, then he is lucky to be God-fearing. Otherwise, it is only in Nigeria that you steal money and you walk freely and you are celebrated.”
He described the troubling dynamic in society where individuals who have recently acquired wealth are often revered, despite questionable sources.
“If you come into an area like this, people would start lobbying you and prostrate before you even when they know that the money was stolen. It is only in this country that somebody had no money yesterday or last week, but the following week he buys 10 cars; buys jets and his brothers would fly with him, his mother would fly with him, his uncle would fly with him, and they would say Allah has blessed our son.”
Ndume lamented the lack of progress in establishing laws to tackle unexplained wealth, noting that previous efforts to introduce such legislation have been unsuccessful. He recounted an attempt to persuade a former head of state to sign an executive bill on the matter, which was ultimately rejected. “Up till now, there is no law on unexplained wealth Act in Nigeria and there is no Executive Order on it,” he remarked.
The senator also addressed the pressing issue of hunger in the nation, advocating for the increased cultivation of food crops to mitigate this crisis. “There is hunger in the land and up till now we have not cultivated up to five percent of our land. Nigeria is blessed with massive arable land,” he emphasized.
