Lawmakers’ Wives, Children Having Police Escorts Is an Insult to Nigerians: Ndume

• Senator Ali Ndume has urged the Federal Government to extend its withdrawal of police officers from VIP duties to the National Assembly, alleging widespread abuse of security escorts by lawmakers, ministers, and their families.

Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South Senatorial District, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s directive on withdrawing police officers from VIP duties should be extended to the National Assembly (NASS), alleging widespread misuse of police personnel by lawmakers and government officials.

Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Ndume said the number of police officers stationed at the National Assembly remained excessive despite the presidential order. He argued that such deployments were unnecessary if the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were adequately secured.

“I thought today I would not see so many police in the National Assembly, but there are still crowded police in the National Assembly. So I don’t know what the IGP is talking about,” Ndume said.

The lawmaker further accused some colleagues and ministers of going beyond reasonable limits, claiming they had police escorts attached not only to themselves but also to their spouses and children.

“You can’t imagine what is happening. Some of our colleagues, some ministers have police attached to their wives. What is their business with that? They have police attached to their children,” he said.

Ndume described the trend as “an insult,” adding that some politicians’ adult children were even moving around Abuja with full convoys.

“I saw somebody — I don’t want to mention the name — but one of these politically exposed persons, his own son, who is mature, is moving with a convoy. It’s not abuse; it’s an insult,” he said.

DON’T MISS: Coup in Guinea-Bissau: AU, ECOWAS, WAEF Raise Alarm Over Threat to Democracy

The senator added that he recently visited a colleague’s residence and counted over 10 police officers assigned to him.

“Some of them, if you see them coming, you pull back, thinking maybe it’s the President or the Vice President that is coming,” he said.

Ndume reiterated his earlier call for government to cut down operational expenses at the National Assembly in order to channel more funding to security agencies battling nationwide threats.