The immediate past Senate Leader, who was removed in
controversial circumstances early this year, Senator Ali Ndume,
speaks on his ordeal in the Senate and allegation of attacking a
Borno State House of Assembly member among other issues in this
interview with SUNDAY ABORISADE
How have you been coping outside the
Senate?
My suspension will lapse on the 15th of November; so, I am going
back. When I was elected as the Senate Leader, I had it at the back
of my mind that I am just first among equals. I am not better than
any of the 108 members in the Senate. In fact, majority of them are
even better than me in terms of whatever criteria and yardstick
that could be used. I also believe that power belongs to God; He
gives it to whoever he wants and He takes it at the time He wants.
There is no situation I cannot adapt to. I still attend to the
needs of my constituents despite the fact that I am on
suspension.
You were removed because the leadership of the
Senate alleged that you were working against its
interest.
My colleagues signed for my removal as the leader but none of
them confronted me with any allegation. I was suspended without
being allowed to defend myself on any allegation. The only thing
that I did was that I called the attention of the Senate, coming
under Order 14 and 15, which has to do with individual privilege,
to the issues in the public domain which touched on the integrity
of the Senate that should be investigated. One of them was an
allegation that the Senate was on vengeance mission against the
Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service because he
impounded the bullet-proof cars allegedly imported by a principal
officer of the Senate. The second issue was that of Senator Dino
Melaye’s educational qualification. Both issues were widely
published by print and electronic media. I asked the upper chamber
to consider the matters as very important worthy of investigation,
this was done and the affected members were cleared.
So, why were you suspended since the officers were
vindicated?
I wonder why they would now go round to say I should be
suspended for six months for calling the attention of the Senate to
issues that threatened the integrity of the Senate. As far as I am
concerned, I didn’t do anything wrong. I think instead of punishing
me, I should be commended because the matter was laid to rest when
the committee that investigated the matter called the necessary
witnesses, did its work and submitted its report.
What actually prompted you to bring up the issue of
Dino Melaye’s alleged certificate scandal to the
floor?
When the media published such grave allegation against a
Senator, we are duty bound, as an institution, to investigate and
that was exactly what I did as the Senate Leader. This is not the
first time that such thing would be done. There were allegations
against four former speakers (House of Representatives) Dimeji
Bankole, Salisu Buhari, Aminu Masari, and Patricia Ette. They were
investigated and those who took their cases to the floor were not
punished. There were several precedents of members calling the
attention of colleagues to specific allegations against some
members without them being punished for doing so.
A principal officer said you were removed because of
your alleged romance with the Presidency to the detriment of the
collective wish of your colleagues. Is this true?
I was the Senate Leader and in the same party with the
executive. My responsibilities also include marketing the ideas and
position of the executive in the chamber and that was exactly what
I was doing. The case that started the controversy was the
nomination of Ibrahim Magu for confirmation as the Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. His name was forwarded to
the Senate by the President and as the Senate Leader, I have the
duty to defend, protect and market the candidate to my colleagues.
Apart from this, Magu is a nominee from my state. I also have the
responsibility to defend the appointment of my constituent. I
actually did the right thing and stood by the truth. If I was
punished because of that, so be it. This is not the end of it, we
are just in this world for a period and our actions will be judged
thereafter. I pray God will reward me for the injustice carried out
against me.
Will you say that the Senator Saraki-led leadership
used and dumped you after helping it to achieve a great level of
stability in the red chamber?
I don’t want to agree with the assertion that I was used and
dumped. God destined that I will be Senate Leader for one and half
years. It is God that said my time was over; that was why I was
removed although it was done through Saraki. The Senate President
was instrumental to my removal but God actually sanctioned it; that
was why it was possible for him to remove me. I feel bad, I feel
betrayed by Saraki and other people that we struggled together. But
since they decided to stab me in the back, I leave them to God; He
is the ultimate judge. I have since put the matter behind me and I
am ready to move on. I thank God that I did not die on the seat. I
have no regret. I would have been worried if I did anything wrong.
I didn’t say anything that is not true, I didn’t fight anybody
neither did I abuse anyone.
As a former Senate Leader, will you say there were
cases of budget padding perpetrated by the
leadership?
I am still on suspension. So, I don’t want to speak on official
issues bordering on the Senate as an institution. I can only react
to issues that affect me personally.
Is it true that you slapped a member of the Borno
State House of Assembly during a meeting you hosted in your house
recently?
There was nothing like that. Honestly, I did not slap anyone and
I cannot slap a lawmaker. We can shout at each other and express
disagreement over issues but it can never lead to a physical
assault.
But the Speaker of the state House of Assembly,
Abdkareem Lawal, announced the suspension of plenary for one month
to protest the alleged attack on Aji, the member.
There was a political gathering which I arranged. The women
group came in larger number than we expected and so we have to
shift the venue to my compound. I attended to the women first and
they left. I then asked the youth to enter but some of them, who
were not invited, started misbehaving and nobody could restore
order among them; so, I was upset. I stood up in annoyance and as I
was walking towards one of them to order him out of my house, the
House of Assembly member quickly came to beg me, asking me to calm
down and he attempted to hold me but he couldn’t reach me before I
turned back. Instead of walking towards the boy, I changed my
mind and entered my house. How can I invite someone to my house and
I will slap him? I didn’t slap him at all.
The APC has suspended its convention again. How do
you think the crisis within the party could be
resolved?
Honestly, I don’t know anything about the convention and I don’t
want to comment on any issue that I don’t have adequate knowledge
of.
Do you think President Muhammadu Buhari should run
for a second term?
My support for President Buhari is 100 per cent. Buhari is what
Nigeria needs now. His initial challenge was his health and
everybody prayed for him and he was healed, waxing strong every
day. As long as Buhari is strong and healthy, then Nigerian needs
no other person apart from him in 2019. For us in the North-East
and in Borno State in particular, we are morally bound to support
Buhari because without him, the insurgents would have wiped us off.
Personally, I take him as my mentor. I don’t have political
godfathers but I have political mentors in the persons of Buhari
and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
There are insinuations that Tinubu is being
sidelined in the Buhari government. Have you tried to mediate among
the parties?
That one has passed my power (laughs…). Asiwaju and Buhari are
my fathers. How do you expect a child to mediate between two
elders? It should be the other way round. I can only plead with my
fathers. However, Asiwaju (Tinubu), the Jagaban, cannot be ignored
by anybody in this government because he played a major role in the
emergence of President Buhari and he remained a formidable leader
of the APC.
You sponsored the North-East Development Commission
Bill which has been signed to law by President Buhari. Do you think
the agency will not encounter similar problems like the
NDDC?
The concept of the NDDC and the NEDC are quite different. NEDC
is established for the reconstruction, rebuilding and the
rehabilitation of the North-East zone that has been devastated by
the activities of insurgents, compounded by our natural
environmental degradation which placed us as one of the poorest
region on Earth. It will address the humanitarian crisis we are
facing now. But the NDDC was established to address the long years
of neglect and unfair treatment of the Niger Delta region as the
host community where the nation’s economic resources are being
extracted. So the two agencies are different.
Are you saying there won’t be cases of abandoned
contracts and looting of money meant for specific
projects?
There is an institutional framework in place. There are rules of
engagement and procedure for contracts award. There will be
strategy for monitoring projects to ensure compliance. So let us be
optimistic that everything will work according to plans.
The insurgents are still making many communities
inaccessible in Borno State. What is the assurance that they won’t
strike again and destroy whatever has been
rebuilt?
The war against insurgency cannot be won like the conventional
wars. These are miscreants that are pursuing inhuman agenda. The
intermittent attacks cannot be totally eradicated but with God on
our side, we shall conquer them. That is why we will continue to
urge the military to sustain the cleanup operation.
The immediate past Senate Leader, who was removed in
controversial circumstances early this year, Senator Ali Ndume,
speaks on his ordeal in the Senate and allegation of attacking a
Borno State House of Assembly member among other issues in this
interview with SUNDAY ABORISADE
How have you been coping outside the
Senate?
My suspension will lapse on the 15th of November; so, I am going
back. When I was elected as the Senate Leader, I had it at the back
of my mind that I am just first among equals. I am not better than
any of the 108 members in the Senate. In fact, majority of them are
even better than me in terms of whatever criteria and yardstick
that could be used. I also believe that power belongs to God; He
gives it to whoever he wants and He takes it at the time He wants.
There is no situation I cannot adapt to. I still attend to the
needs of my constituents despite the fact that I am on
suspension.
You were removed because the leadership of the
Senate alleged that you were working against its
interest.
My colleagues signed for my removal as the leader but none of
them confronted me with any allegation. I was suspended without
being allowed to defend myself on any allegation. The only thing
that I did was that I called the attention of the Senate, coming
under Order 14 and 15, which has to do with individual privilege,
to the issues in the public domain which touched on the integrity
of the Senate that should be investigated. One of them was an
allegation that the Senate was on vengeance mission against the
Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service because he
impounded the bullet-proof cars allegedly imported by a principal
officer of the Senate. The second issue was that of Senator Dino
Melaye’s educational qualification. Both issues were widely
published by print and electronic media. I asked the upper chamber
to consider the matters as very important worthy of investigation,
this was done and the affected members were cleared.
So, why were you suspended since the officers were
vindicated?
I wonder why they would now go round to say I should be
suspended for six months for calling the attention of the Senate to
issues that threatened the integrity of the Senate. As far as I am
concerned, I didn’t do anything wrong. I think instead of punishing
me, I should be commended because the matter was laid to rest when
the committee that investigated the matter called the necessary
witnesses, did its work and submitted its report.
What actually prompted you to bring up the issue of
Dino Melaye’s alleged certificate scandal to the
floor?
When the media published such grave allegation against a
Senator, we are duty bound, as an institution, to investigate and
that was exactly what I did as the Senate Leader. This is not the
first time that such thing would be done. There were allegations
against four former speakers (House of Representatives) Dimeji
Bankole, Salisu Buhari, Aminu Masari, and Patricia Ette. They were
investigated and those who took their cases to the floor were not
punished. There were several precedents of members calling the
attention of colleagues to specific allegations against some
members without them being punished for doing so.
A principal officer said you were removed because of
your alleged romance with the Presidency to the detriment of the
collective wish of your colleagues. Is this true?
I was the Senate Leader and in the same party with the
executive. My responsibilities also include marketing the ideas and
position of the executive in the chamber and that was exactly what
I was doing. The case that started the controversy was the
nomination of Ibrahim Magu for confirmation as the Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. His name was forwarded to
the Senate by the President and as the Senate Leader, I have the
duty to defend, protect and market the candidate to my colleagues.
Apart from this, Magu is a nominee from my state. I also have the
responsibility to defend the appointment of my constituent. I
actually did the right thing and stood by the truth. If I was
punished because of that, so be it. This is not the end of it, we
are just in this world for a period and our actions will be judged
thereafter. I pray God will reward me for the injustice carried out
against me.
Will you say that the Senator Saraki-led leadership
used and dumped you after helping it to achieve a great level of
stability in the red chamber?
I don’t want to agree with the assertion that I was used and
dumped. God destined that I will be Senate Leader for one and half
years. It is God that said my time was over; that was why I was
removed although it was done through Saraki. The Senate President
was instrumental to my removal but God actually sanctioned it; that
was why it was possible for him to remove me. I feel bad, I feel
betrayed by Saraki and other people that we struggled together. But
since they decided to stab me in the back, I leave them to God; He
is the ultimate judge. I have since put the matter behind me and I
am ready to move on. I thank God that I did not die on the seat. I
have no regret. I would have been worried if I did anything wrong.
I didn’t say anything that is not true, I didn’t fight anybody
neither did I abuse anyone.
As a former Senate Leader, will you say there were
cases of budget padding perpetrated by the
leadership?
I am still on suspension. So, I don’t want to speak on official
issues bordering on the Senate as an institution. I can only react
to issues that affect me personally.
Is it true that you slapped a member of the Borno
State House of Assembly during a meeting you hosted in your house
recently?
There was nothing like that. Honestly, I did not slap anyone and
I cannot slap a lawmaker. We can shout at each other and express
disagreement over issues but it can never lead to a physical
assault.
But the Speaker of the state House of Assembly,
Abdkareem Lawal, announced the suspension of plenary for one month
to protest the alleged attack on Aji, the member.
There was a political gathering which I arranged. The women
group came in larger number than we expected and so we have to
shift the venue to my compound. I attended to the women first and
they left. I then asked the youth to enter but some of them, who
were not invited, started misbehaving and nobody could restore
order among them; so, I was upset. I stood up in annoyance and as I
was walking towards one of them to order him out of my house, the
House of Assembly member quickly came to beg me, asking me to calm
down and he attempted to hold me but he couldn’t reach me before I
turned back. Instead of walking towards the boy, I changed my
mind and entered my house. How can I invite someone to my house and
I will slap him? I didn’t slap him at all.
The APC has suspended its convention again. How do
you think the crisis within the party could be
resolved?
Honestly, I don’t know anything about the convention and I don’t
want to comment on any issue that I don’t have adequate knowledge
of.
Do you think President Muhammadu Buhari should run
for a second term?
My support for President Buhari is 100 per cent. Buhari is what
Nigeria needs now. His initial challenge was his health and
everybody prayed for him and he was healed, waxing strong every
day. As long as Buhari is strong and healthy, then Nigerian needs
no other person apart from him in 2019. For us in the North-East
and in Borno State in particular, we are morally bound to support
Buhari because without him, the insurgents would have wiped us off.
Personally, I take him as my mentor. I don’t have political
godfathers but I have political mentors in the persons of Buhari
and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
There are insinuations that Tinubu is being
sidelined in the Buhari government. Have you tried to mediate among
the parties?
That one has passed my power (laughs…). Asiwaju and Buhari are
my fathers. How do you expect a child to mediate between two
elders? It should be the other way round. I can only plead with my
fathers. However, Asiwaju (Tinubu), the Jagaban, cannot be ignored
by anybody in this government because he played a major role in the
emergence of President Buhari and he remained a formidable leader
of the APC.
You sponsored the North-East Development Commission
Bill which has been signed to law by President Buhari. Do you think
the agency will not encounter similar problems like the
NDDC?
The concept of the NDDC and the NEDC are quite different. NEDC
is established for the reconstruction, rebuilding and the
rehabilitation of the North-East zone that has been devastated by
the activities of insurgents, compounded by our natural
environmental degradation which placed us as one of the poorest
region on Earth. It will address the humanitarian crisis we are
facing now. But the NDDC was established to address the long years
of neglect and unfair treatment of the Niger Delta region as the
host community where the nation’s economic resources are being
extracted. So the two agencies are different.
Are you saying there won’t be cases of abandoned
contracts and looting of money meant for specific
projects?
There is an institutional framework in place. There are rules of
engagement and procedure for contracts award. There will be
strategy for monitoring projects to ensure compliance. So let us be
optimistic that everything will work according to plans.
The insurgents are still making many communities
inaccessible in Borno State. What is the assurance that they won’t
strike again and destroy whatever has been
rebuilt?
The war against insurgency cannot be won like the conventional
wars. These are miscreants that are pursuing inhuman agenda. The
intermittent attacks cannot be totally eradicated but with God on
our side, we shall conquer them. That is why we will continue to
urge the military to sustain the cleanup operation.
Read more https://www.nairalaw.com/i-supported-saraki-but-he-betrayed-me-ndume/