Oct. 30, 2023

Senator Ali Ndume has called on President Bola Tinubu to sign an executive order on unexplained wealth.

Ndume, who is the lawmaker representing Borno South under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), made the remark in the wake of a comment by retired Supreme Court Justice Musa Muhammad Dattijo over the level of corruption in the country’s judiciary.

While saying there are laws in the UK and other parts of the world to tackle such issues, the lawmaker said he attempted to introduce some bills in that regard.

“I have tried several times but you know, there were excuses here and there,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. “I think the best way to get this across is when the bill comes from the executive or in the interim, the current president should sign an executive bill on unexplained wealth.”

According to Ndume, the level of unexplained wealth in the country especially among politicians and civil servants requires some laws to combat.

“I know of civil servants that live in houses that not only their income, their salaries, or their life pension – assuming they would live in this world for 90 years or 100 years – cannot buy.” Senator Ndume added.

“The same thing with some of our politicians especially the politically exposed persons like ministers, you find as you rightly said, some of them come to the National Assembly, and suddenly there is so much money.”

Reiterating that politicians are public servants, he called on the public to hold them accountable.

“Well, I will partially accept what you said,” Ndume said when asked if the lawmakers have failed to pass bills to curb the trend of unexplained wealth in the country.

“The public are those that are supposed to put us on our toes to represent them and account for our actions,” the senator added.