*Says “One Politically Exposed Person’s Son Moves With Full Convoy—That Is Wrong”
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Senator Ali Ndume has issued a blistering critique of Nigeria’s faltering security architecture, warning that the nation is running out of time to address its worsening insecurity and calling for a temporary scale-down or shutdown of National Assembly activities to free up billions for the military.
Speaking in a fiery and unfiltered interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, the Borno South lawmaker condemned inadequate satellite surveillance, misuse of police personnel on VIP protection, and chronically under-equipped and underpaid security forces. He framed his proposal as a “wartime necessity” for a country under siege by bandits, kidnappers, and insurgents.
Ndume’s remarks follow the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun’s recent redeployment of more than 11,500 officers from VIP protection in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive, a move he described as “one of the most commendable actions” of the administration. Still, he faulted its poor implementation, noting that police officers remain heavily concentrated at the National Assembly complex. “I thought today I would not see so many police in the National Assembly, but there are still crowded police in the complex. So, I don’t know what the IGP is talking about,” he said. He demanded the complete withdrawal of security escorts from senators, House members, ministers, and their families, arguing that securing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would make such escorts unnecessary. “If you secure Abuja, why do you need policemen attached to personalities?”
He criticised what he described as excessive deployments to politically exposed persons, revealing that some ministers assign officers to their wives and children, and even to sons who move around with full convoys. “One of the politically exposed persons I don’t want to mention names; his son moves with a convoy; that is wrong,” he said. Ndume also recounted visiting a colleague’s home and encountering more than ten officers stationed there, calling it “an insult to office” and a betrayal of citizens left without protection. He extended the criticism to the presidency, saying, “The convoy with which he goes about is too much. Secure Abuja, and the President can even drive out. When you secure personalities, common people become vulnerable, and we do not care.”
He contrasted Abuja’s insecurity with cities like Abidjan and Accra, where residents walk safely at night. “In Abidjan, the people in the hotel told me: no, you can go, nothing, it’s safe,” he said, adding that one cannot walk from the studio to Asokoro in Abuja without fear of robbery or kidnapping.
Central to the interview was Ndume’s recent clash with Senate President Godswill Akpabio over Nigeria’s satellite capabilities. While Akpabio claimed that four satellites are functional, Ndume countered that only three are operational out of five launched since 2003, with one lost in space (NigComSat-1) and others hampered by technical issues. “We have only four, and one has issues, but it is not adequate to solve the security challenges,” he said. He stressed that none of the satellites provide the military-grade, round-the-clock surveillance needed, comparing Nigeria’s limited capacity to the United States’ more than 8,500 satellites.
“Why are we not able to track these criminals? Do we not have the technology, GSM, satellite?” Ndume asked, referencing longstanding cases such as the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, recent ISWAP kidnappings of 13 teenage girls in his constituency, and the disappearance of Major General Abdulkadir Mohammed (referred to as General Uba during the broadcast). He also highlighted the Kuriga school abduction in Kaduna, where more than 200 girls were taken on motorcycles. “If we have the technology, it is easy to track them. These people traveled a minimum of 30 minutes, and we would spot 50 or 60 motorbikes.” Drawing from his service as former Senate Committee on Army chairman, he said the failures are rooted not in ignorance but in a lack of political will and capacity. He called for advanced foreign partnerships in satellite imaging, expansion of Nigeria’s limited fleet of only six Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and additional aircraft beyond the 12 Tucano jets and few attack helicopters. “This warfare is not something we can face with bare hands and guns. We need technology and intelligence.”
Ndume described Nigeria’s military manpower as dangerously low. He noted that the army has between 135,000 and 150,000 personnel, the Navy 20,000 to 25,000, and the Air Force 15,000 to 18,000, totaling fewer than 200,000 troops for a population exceeding 200 million. Battalions designed for 500 to 900 soldiers are operating with as few as 400 personnel and lack essential equipment such as MRAP vehicles, assault rifles, RPGs, and ammunition tanks. “Troops carrying 50 to 90, they do not have up to ten vehicles,” he lamented.
He acknowledged President Tinubu’s plan to recruit 220,000 additional soldiers, 30,000 police officers, and thousands more across security agencies to add 50,000 boots on the ground. However, he cautioned that full integration will take a year due to logistics. He also decried the poor welfare of troops, noting that privates’ salaries increased from ₦50,000 to ₦104,000, which he called inadequate when compared to more than $2,000 monthly paid to local staff at the United States Embassy in Nigeria. Daily allowances rose from ₦1,500 to ₦5,000, prompting him to ask, “Can five thousand buy you three square meals?” He said elite units such as the motorcycle-riding squad that ventured into Sambisa Forest have become ineffective without air support and surveillance.
Declaring a “security emergency,” Ndume said the government must slash discretionary spending, beginning with the National Assembly. He said the crisis is like “a house on fire” and proposed scaling legislative sittings to quarterly sessions, with pay prorated to actual work, while redirecting saved funds to equipment, training, ammunition, and troop welfare. “Our house is on fire. If that means reducing National Assembly activities so we pay less and use the money for security, many colleagues will agree.”
Citing the United States model of government shutdowns, he explained that only discretionary spending stops while essential functions continue. “In the American system, their spending is classified into two: discretionary and non-discretionary. If you hear that the government is shut down, it does not mean everybody goes home, the discretionary expenditures are the ones that can go.” He urged President Tinubu to issue executive orders suspending non-essential ministries and legislative operations and redirecting the funds to logistics, MRAPs, and bolstering the defense allocation, currently 1.9 percent (₦546 billion) of the national budget.
Ndume, who has faced arrests, suspensions, and backlash in the past for his outspoken views, said he is not afraid of opposition from colleagues. “You might be in trouble, you are asking them to go home? No, I have been troubled before. What I am saying is realistically, our house is on fire and we need everything to put that fire out.”
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