Ndume Breaks Silence, Declines Senate Committee Chairmanship

After his removal and suspension, Senator Ali Ndume has broken the silence on his removal as the Chief Whip of the Senate, saying, having reviewed the conversation that prompted his ouster, his action did not warrant his sack.

It should be recalled that Ndume was removed as the senate chief whip after his criticism of the President Bola Tinubu government’s handling of the nation.
About two days after the decision, the lawmaker said he has also declined the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Tourism, arguing that he lacks the experience and exposure to lead such a sensitive group.

While reacting, the Borno South lawmaker said this in his country home of Maiduguri on Friday about 48 hours after he was removed as the Senate Chief Whip. Ndume said that he never wanted to be a senate whip after serving as the leader in the eight Senate, addong that he was given the chance to choose which committee to serve as the vice chairman having successfully led the campaigns that brought about the emergence of Godwill Akpabio as president of the Senate.

On the charge to resign from the All Progressives Congress (APC), the senator said he is a founding member of the party.

According to him, he was one of the twenty-two senators from the PDP that formed the APC when the current national chairman of the party Abdullahi Ganduje was a deputy governor in Kano State.

Ndume, however, stated that when former President Muhammadu Buhari in the company of President Bola Tinubu ordered him to sign a document to join APC at the Imo House in Abuja, he informed his people before going public as such, he would consult his people before deciding on whether to leave the APC or not, adding that he could not speak up immediately after his sack because he was mourning the death of a family member.