Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume has lauded former President Muhammadu Buhari for “being a more accessible president”.
Buhari was civilian president from 2015 to 2023.
Speaking in a television interview yesterday, Ndume said it is difficult to have an appointment with President Bola Tinubu because he has been “shielded from reality” by some of his appointees.
Ndume added that during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo “who was older than the current president, in 24 hours, any senator has access to him, ministers go in and out. That is politics. You talk to the people, hear from them”.
Obasanjo was president from 1999 to 2007.
Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District in the red chamber, added that access to Tinubu is not this difficult outside the walls of the presidential villa.
“If you know the president before now, you would know that the whole scenario has changed.
“This is somebody, he stays in Lagos, if you go to Bourdillon, any day, any time in the night, you can go to Bourdillon at 2 O’clock in the morning and in most cases you would find President Tinubu receiving people and seeing them off.
“But now, if you go to the front of the villa, it is like a graveyard because they don’t allow anybody to go and see Mr President.
“During Buhari’s administration, which I thought was not that good, but if you compare the two, you would give Buhari a thumbs-up. At least he opens up, people come to see him.”
Ndume reiterated that most ministers do not have access to the president.
“There are some ministers who don’t have access to Mr President. The only access they have is when they are invited. And some may never be invited.
“Or they can see the president when they go for council meetings. And you know, when they go for meetings, by the time the president walks in, all of them are seated. And he is always the first to leave.”
The senator said some of the president’s aides may be doing him more harm than good.
“Besides shielding Mr President, they always give him assurance that everything is all right out there and that is not the case,” he said.
