FactCheck: Daniel Bwala’s Claim that Senator Ali Ndume Has No Projects After 22 Years in National Assembly is False!
BY: Mustapha Lawal
Claim:
Senator Ali Ndume has done no projects in 22 years as a lawmaker in the National Assembly.
Verdict:
False and Misleading. There are records that Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume has sponsored bills, moved motions, and facilitated constituency projects in Borno South over his 22-year legislative career. While criticisms over the scale and impact of his performance may be valid in a political context, the claim that he has executed “not a single project” or has “done nothing” is false.
Full Text
On Sunday, April 2025, Daniel Bwala, the Special Adviser on Policy Communication to President Bola Tinubu, accused Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) of failing his constituents. The allegations were made during an interview on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics.
Bwala claimed that despite spending 22 years in the National Assembly, Ndume had no single executed project in Southern Borno. He also said the senator abandoned over 120,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from his constituency who remain in Cameroon.
He added that Ndume’s legislative contributions were poor, saying, “Ninety percent of his bills don’t pass second reading.” Bwala further accused Ndume of relying on state power for re-election, manipulating ethnic narratives, and failing to use media platforms to advocate for his displaced constituents.
These claims have since gone viral online, prompting questions about the accuracy of Bwala’s assertions.
Verification
FactCheckAfrica searched through publicly available records, government websites, reputable media archives, and legislative trackers to verify these claims. Here is what we found:
- Has Senator Ndume sponsored or executed projects?
Contrary to the claim that there is “not a single project” to his name, evidence shows that Senator Ndume has facilitated some constituency projects. A 2017 report by Blueprint confirmed that Ndume donated tractors and drilled boreholes across Southern Borno communities. Similarly, his Wikipedia entry lists community development efforts like school renovations, job creation initiatives, and the provision of scholarships.
- Has he made any legislative impact?
Contrary to Bwala’s claims, Ndume has been actively involved in legislative processes. He has sponsored several bills, including the Peace Corps Establishment Bill passed by the Senate, the Constituencies Development Fund Bill and the Electoral Act Amendment Bill that enabled IDPs to vote in 2015, a major milestone considering the large displaced population in his state.
These contributions directly contradict Bwala’s claim that “90% of his bills don’t pass second reading.”
Conclusion
The statement by Daniel Bwala that Senator Ali Ndume has had “no single project” in 22 years is not supported by factual evidence. While Ndume’s record, like any long-serving public official’s, is open to scrutiny and debate, the blanket assertion that he has “done nothing” legislatively or developmentally is inaccurate and misleading. Political criticisms must be separated from verifiable facts.
