There are lawmakers who count their years in office, and then there is Ali Ndume, who seems to count the number of motions he has moved. The senator from Borno South has just been ranked Nigeria’s third most productive legislator, an outcome that surprised almost no one who has followed his long, restless career.
The ranking, unveiled in Abuja by the Erudite Growth and Advancement Foundation (ERGAF-Africa), tracked every intervention made in the National Assembly between June 2023 and June 2024. The result is something of a digital scoreboard for democracy: who spoke, how often, and on what. Ndume, alongside his Borno colleague Tahir Monguno, recorded thirty-seven substantive contributions, trailing only Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.
For Ndume, 65 and still ferociously active, this is another line in a crowded résumé. Since 2003, when he first entered the House of Representatives, he has rarely blended into the background. He has served as minority leader, majority leader, and briefly as chief whip before another of those political thunderstorms swept him out. Through it all, his voice, serious and insistent, has remained a fixture in Abuja’s chambers.