By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
Controversial Senator Ali Ndume learnt the hard way that it is not always the best to open one’s mouth all the time, on every issue.
He was kicked out yesterday as Chief Whip of the 10th Senate by his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress, ostensibly for opening ‘his mouth too wide’!
He was immediately replaced by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters, Senator Tahir Mongunu, from the same state as Ndume.
Ndume’s removal was sequel to a directive to that effect in a letter written by the National Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, and National Secretary, Senator Bashir Ajibola.
The APC NWC in the letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, claimed that Ndume “seriously abused his office through unguarded utterances and outbursts against the federal government and Senator Bola Tinubu in particular.”
*You can join any opposition party of your choice and continue your criticisms of Tinubu- Ganduje, national chairman
The NWC further alleged that Ndume was more of a mole in the party and advised him to honourably resign his membership.
The letter read, “We have reviewed that Senator Ali Ndume should honourably resign the membership of APC and join any opposition party of his choice formally instead of hiding behind the veil of crass activism to decimate the hard-earned cohesion and goodwill that our party, the APC, is enjoying within and outside the country.
“His utterances which are sheer propaganda are not based on verifiable facts are unbecoming of a member of the APC caucus of the Senate of the National Assembly. It therefore behoves the APC caucus to bring this to the attention of its members for necessary actions to curtail his deliberate mission to undermine the government the party and the progress of Nigerians particularly those appointed by Mr President to work against his administration.
“We therefore urge the Senate caucus to take appropriate steps to address this issue and ensure that members of the Senate, particularly those within the All Progressives Congress, hold and maintain decorum in their public utterances.
“Accordingly, we realise that the position of the whip of the senate belongs to our party and we are not opposed to whatever position the members of the APC caucus in the senate may have, but we think that distinguished Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno should immediately replace distinguished Senator Ali Ndume who is bent on bringing down the country as the majority whip of the Senate.
“We expected a much more responsible and decorous behaviour from him. But this has not been the case.
“His uncouth and rabid outbursts against the governments, before the international and before the global community is not only harmful to the government’s image alone but also undermines the party’s unity and cohesion and in addition, undermines the government’s effort to bring in foreign direct investments to Nigeria.
“As he is a ranking member of our party, his actions are unbecoming of a senior member of the Senate and sets a very poor example for others in the future to follow.
“His latest tirade on air, during a programme on Arise Television where he referred to the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, commander-in-chief as being run by thieves, portrays Ali Ndume as a person who is bent on running the country down and running the party aground through incitements and chief propaganda.”
The request was put to a voice vote by the Senate President, Akpabio, at plenary and was affirmed by a majority of the APC senators.
Apart from removing Ndume as Whip of the Senate, his deputy chairmanship position of the Senate Committee on Appropriations was also removed and made the Chairman of the Committee on Tourism.
Monguno, who replaced Ndume as Whip, would also assume the position of deputy chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
The Senate, however, gave Ndume a soft landing when Senator Cyril Fasuyi (APC Ekiti North), moved the motion for Ndume to face the Senate Committee on Code of Conducts, Ethics, and Privileges on the allegation of kleptomania against them.
In an apparent move to save Ndume from suspension, the President of the Senate in his remarks on Fasuyi’s motion, said since the APC NWC had requested for his removal as Whip and approved, he should be forgiven for now.
Ndume suffered a similar fate in January 2017, when he was removed as Leader of the 8th Senate.
Ndume only recently made a scathing criticism of President Tinubu’s leadership style. He accused the President of ‘running a cabal while excluding other top government functionaries, including Senators, even some cabinet members.’
He also claimed that he was being blocked from accessing the President even as the Chief whip of the Senate dominated by his party, APC.
He also alleged that the President had been caged at the villa and that he was not aware of the acute hunger being experienced by Nigerians.
Ndume, a source close to the Villa said, was not sincere in his criticisms.
“It is obvious he is being used by some forces to distract and derail the government. We suspect this is all about whipping negative sentiments to damage Tinubu before 2027. It’s a sinister agenda. But it has failed,” the source disclosed.
At the time of going to the press, the embattled Senator was yet to speak on the issues surrounding his unceremonious removal.
