Ndume, who was the guest lecturer at the University of Ibadan 2021 Distinguished Leadership Lecture, said this in Ibadan on Saturday.

Delivering the lecture titled, ‘Unexplained wealth and the fight against corruption in Nigeria, Ndume said for corruption to be nipped in the bud, the war against it must start from the politicians to the civil servants.

The lawmaker also stated that for anti-corruption war to be effective, it must be a lifetime struggle and not a one-off fight.

He said, “One should not be mistaken on how good it is to have riches, but toxic riches should be abhorred because it pollutes the society. It changes our good culture, it breeds injustice and impunity. Every citizen has a role to play. Our crusade against this monster should start from politicians, top public servants, civil servants down to the local government staff. For the perpetrators, it is not difficult to identify the tendencies exhibited by the officers, acquiring landed property in and outside the country, having fat bank deposits, buying expensive cars, or marrying so many wives. Our whistle blower policy which had stillbirth before it became law must be revisited. The motivation should not just be the reward, but patriotism,” he said.

Ndume who represents Borno South, made the claim while answering questions from journalists after the turning of All Progressives Congress national chairmanship aspirant, Malam Saliu Mustapha, as the new Turaki of Ilorin on Friday, October 22.

He stated that the federal government is doing well and doing its best to tackle the challenge of insecurity.

The senator said “Insecurity is going down, it is not eliminated. Normally this kind of a thing is not something that you will just say it is all over.”

Ndume revealed his stance on loans obtained by the country on Thursday, September 16, just after a fresh request was made by President Buhari for statutory approval of external loans in the total sum of $4,054,476,863.00, plus Euro €710m and Grant Component of $125m.

He said “What is the borrowing for and what are the terms? Borrowing is not a crime but when the rate of debt services increases which I understand is getting to 80 per cent to 90 per cent, you have to be cautious, you have to look for an alternative. There are some loans that are not just absolutely necessary, there are some that can be delayed there are some that can be negotiated or you renegotiate the terms. I think this is what the media should analyse and see whether it is necessary. Let us look at the implication, what the money is to be used for. We have infrastructural deficits in this country and all we hear is that when people come to Abuja and allocation is made you don’t see anything happening. For me, is better to borrow that money and do the road instead of giving it out for people to collect it and go and spend it without accountability. What I am worried about again is the way the Senate is handling it. The Senate by definition is the house of deliberations when things like this come, we don’t just rush and say because you are to be seen to be good you just rush and approve it. You are supposed to look at it critically, cross the “Ts,” dot the “Is,” ask questions, carry the people you are representing along. But the way we do it, makes the people we represent look at us with suspicion. There is some situation where the time is short you have to act fast but you must carry Nigerians along. They call us rubber stamps; it is because we don’t carry people along. If for example there is an opportunity and it is for one week and the Senate needs to approve and we need to get it for Nigeria we can get in 24hrs because of the need and the emergency but if it can wait there is no urgency in it, we need to analyse. Like we rushed to approve certain borrowings until now we did not get the money. So why did we rush? These are the questions that come to my head most of the time.”

Ndume said the Federal Government had adopted the Borno State-owned college, following the abduction of 276 schoolgirls by the terrorists in 2014.

Ndume, who spoke with journalists in Abuja, also noted with concern that parents of the abducted schoolgirls were still living in pain without comfort since the unfortunate incident.

He said, “It is seven years since the Chibok girls were abducted. Up till today, 112 of them are not accounted for. We hear stories, but I am glad that the government issued a statement that they have not forgotten and that they are following the case. However, I want to call on the government to be giving the parents and members of the public updates, either on a monthly or quarterly basis, on the efforts that they are making so that we will know what is going on. The government should identify the parents of the remaining 112 missing girls so that, through the state government or whatever channel, the government can be in touch with them and also assist them psychologically. Also, the Federal Government, up till now, seven years after the school was destroyed, has not rebuilt it. The Federal Government took over and the Safe School Initiative, where money was set aside – big money – nobody is talking about that again. The Federal Government has not fulfilled its promise. In fact, the Borno State Government is now struggling to take back the school from the Federal Government in order to rebuild it. The road project has been in the Federal Government’s budget since I came to the National Assembly, 18 years now. The Federal Government could not finish it and that road is critical access. This is because if there is no accessibility, the military or the security agencies cannot be effective. So, these are the things we are calling on the Federal Government to look into as a matter of urgency or national importance.”

According to Daily Post, the operatives of Nigeria Intelligence Service and anti-graft agents, the Economic And Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) arrested Mr Maina in Niger Republic.

Maina – who is being prosecuted on 12 counts of money laundering to the tune of N2bn by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission – was tracked down owing to the synergy between Nigeria Intelligence Team and their counterpart in Niger Republic.

Maina’s arrest is coming days after Senator Ali Ndume, senator representing Borno South, Borno State who stood surety for Mr Maina, was released from Abuja correctional facility (Prison) over his failure to produce him before Federal High Court which was presided by Justice Akong Abang.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by Senate Committee on Special Duties and the North East Development Commission (NEDC) in Maiduguri on Wednesday, August 26, the Senator representing Borno South said the challenges faced by the people of Borno State is being underreported.

He said “If the Senate Committee would take time during their stay to go round some of the camps and even the nearby Konduga local government, we would all better appreciate what the people are facing.  Even as a serving senator, I still cannot go to Gwoza my home town because it is not safe.  Our security operatives are trying their bests, and we have to give it to them. But the situation is overwhelming. People are dying every day, either from attacks or by hunger. We have lost many lives here. There was a time in my home town Gwoza, that about 75 elders most of whom I know personally were dragged by Boko Haram to the town’s abattoir and slaughtered like animals. Only two persons survived because their bodies were covered with other people’s’ blood and the assailants thought they were dead. In the same Gwoza, Boko Haram had in a single day lined up young men and summarily shot them dead. These were just some stand out cases.”

In an interview with BBC Hausa on Wednesday, July 29, Ndume who represents Borno South Senatorial District, said the rehabilitation exercise is unacceptable by his people. According to him, the sect members will never repent from their wicked ways.

Kicking against the program, Ndume said “This government’s programme is unacceptable to our people. The right thing is to stop it, forthwith. Not that they even apologised to you, they apologized to the government with the thinking that government has failed and that is why they are being pampered. They are like Kharijites. Many among those released have since run away. They will never repent. The government should know what to do about them. But not re-introducing someone to you, who has killed your parent, or your relations. If there is the sincerity of purpose in this, those in the IDP camps should be trained in various trades and vocation so that they could start life again.”

Ndume who is the Senate Chairman committee on Army, gave this suggestion when he spoke at a media briefing in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

He said ”The government should critically look at the recurrent and personnel expenditure which consumes about 70% of the budget. More should be pumped into Capital. People should make a sacrifice. This is the time to look at issues critically.  I think there should be more sacrifice, especially on the personnel side. How can you sustain the same personnel and overhead cost when even the work they are doing, most people don’t go to the office now and they are being paid fully for the month. Is there any justification for that?  If you can’t work because of the pandemic, then you should be given palliatives and be paid less”.