Former Senate Leader and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ali Ndume, has urged President Bola Tinubu to purge his administration of what he described as “kakistrocrats,” warning that their continued presence could expose the government to more controversies and embarrassment.

Ndume made the call on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time, where he linked the recent fake agency scandal to what he described as lapses in oversight and the appointment of incompetent officials.

The Borno South senator explained that kakistocracy refers to a system of government allegedly controlled by the least competent, most corrupt or worst-qualified individuals.

According to him, recent developments have vindicated his earlier concerns about the quality of some officials within the Tinubu administration.

“Already, I’ve been vindicated on that, as to saying that my concern is that the President has so many kakistrocrats that dominate the presidency,” Ndume said.

“And I still maintain that unless he does something about it, they will continue to mess him up.

“You can imagine, right now, it’s now a known thing in Nigeria; we had a fake agency that operated and even had an office, and they don’t know, they don’t know.”

President Tinubu had ordered the arrest of Nwabueze George over the alleged operation of a fake government agency within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

George was identified as the national coordinator of the disputed National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office.

The President also ordered the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries following findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, said the discovery was made during a broader investigation into the activities of the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) and other procedural weaknesses within government.

Ndume commended the President for acting on the matter, particularly the suspension of the affected permanent secretaries.

However, he questioned why, despite the revelations, Tinubu had yet to take what he considered adequate measures to address the wider problem.

“I give the President credit. That is why I insist that if he had capable hands, all this mess and embarrassment wouldn’t be happening,” he said.

“And he’s still, you know, I don’t know why, and he’s still not taking the appropriate action on it.”

Ndume maintained that the President needed to strengthen his team with competent officials capable of effectively managing government affairs and preventing avoidable controversies.