The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the former Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, to desist from publicly criticising the President Bola Tinubu-led government.
The ruling party urged Ndume to privately reach out to the president to share his reservation.
The National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, gave the advice on Sunday in an interview with Punch.
He argued that bigwigs like Ndume should seek to weigh their words before going public.
Recall that Ndume had called on the President to tackle the hardship suffered by citizens before it was too late.
The lawmaker claimed that certain bad actors close to Tinubu were responsible for pushing harmful reforms and policies which are aimed at destabilising the government.
However, Ibrahim has warned Ndume to tread with caution.
Asked on Sunday if the ruling APC was concerned about Ndume’s latest public advice to the President, he replied that the legislator belongs to the same party as the president, hence he ought to share his grievances in private.
He said, “In a democracy, people have the right to own opinion and ventilate their positions without anyone suppressing it. Ali Ndume is one of the President’s advisers at large. If you happen to belong to the same party as the President, you must share certain things with him because he is working on the policies or agenda of the party.
“As a senior party member, a legislator and former Chief whip for that matter, Ndume is an adviser by extension to all the leaders in our party. Therefore, he has ways of reaching out to them in private without necessarily going public. People must take note of their position and the fact that they have followers who will go to an extent to assess them based on what they say or do.
“Many people hold Ndume in high esteem. So he must always weigh his words for fear of being misquoted or misinterpreted. But I want to believe he is doing so in good faith. Whether the APC is disappointed or will consider any sanction in a decision to be taken by the party.”
The development comes three months after Ndume was relieved of the Chief Whip position for embarrassing the President on live TV.
The Borno lawmaker claimed that Tinubu had been caged and prevented from knowing the hardships Nigerians were passing through, an action that irked the ruling party.
He was subsequently replaced by the Senator representing Borno North, Tahir Monguno following a directive issued to that effect in a letter written by the National Chairman of the party, Umar Ganduje and National Secretary, Senator Bashir Ajibola.