Ndume made the remarks on Wednesday, September 16, at the public presentation of Military Transformational Leadership in Action: The Buratai Era, held at the Nigerian Army Conference Centre and Suites in Asokoro, Abuja.
The senator was responding to comments by the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, who had criticised the political class over the politicisation of ethnicity and religion and its impact on Nigeria’s security and governance challenges.
Ndume argued that blaming politicians alone for the country’s challenges overlooked the role citizens play in determining who emerges as leaders.
“Every blame is on the politician. And I’m a politician, though accidental, or maybe, forced or recruited into it. But I’m a realist. I live with the situation I find myself, and I’m proud of it,” he said.
He said citizens must recognise their responsibility in the democratic process because politicians emerge from among the people.
“Politics is people; politics is one way to run democracy, and what is democracy? It’s the government of the people, for the people, and by the people. From all discussions, now the blame goes down to us, and we are your product,” Ndume said.
The lawmaker further argued that citizens could not completely absolve themselves of responsibility even when electoral malpractice was involved.
“And by the way, you are to be blamed because even if it is through rigging, it is you people that do the rigging to bring us in. So, if you put us here, we are doing your bidding,” he said.
Ndume urged Nigerians to critically examine the quality of individuals they support and the processes through which political leaders emerge.
He added that greater citizen participation in politics was necessary to achieve better governance.
“And God says that he does not bring leaders different from the followers. I think part of this is something that we look at very well, so that you make sure that we have democracy, and when we have democracy, we would have good governance,” he said.
The senator concluded by stressing the connection between the choices made by citizens and the outcomes of governance.
“You put garbage in, you expect something good out of it? It’s not possible,” Ndume said.
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