By Jennifer Amarachi
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has summoned former senate chief whip of National Assembly, Senator Ali Ndume for openly condemning President Bola Tinubu’s administration without consulting the party.
Ndume was earlier ousted and replaced by Senator Mohammed Monguno in response to the ruling party’s letter sanctioning the lawmaker for his hurtful and unguarded statement against the president.
“The controversial lawmaker, a high-ranking leader of the party, should be sanctioned for his deliberate failure to use party machinery to vent his anger before going public”, according to a letter jointly signed by Senator Ajibola Basiru and APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.
In an interview with BBC Hausa Service, Ndume accused President Bola Tinubu of being held captive by forces in the Presidential Villa. He also claimed that they have been feeding him lies and shielding him from selfless Nigerians who can tell him the truth.
His criticism resulted in his removal as a principal officer in the National Assembly and committee chairman.
Addressing reporters following a meeting with the National Working Committee (NWC) that lasted approximately two hours, Ndume said the party invited him to discuss his dismissal as a principal officer of the Senate.
Ndume stated: “The party invited me yesterday, and now I’m here to discuss family affairs. Actually, the national chairman is more than simply a national chairman to me; he is a parent. “Given what has occurred, it is not surprising that I have been invited to hear my own side. We had family discussions, and I actually accepted the mistake of not speaking to the party as a final point, and I promised the party that all of my observations as a senior member of the family should have terminated or ended with the party.
“That is something that moving forward but whatever I said or whatever I did was out of patriotism and those issues may be said strong but they are true but then I should have talked to the party as the last bus stop.” When asked about his membership in the APC, the Senator stated: “I have not been expelled, and the party has not said we do not want you here, because he is my father, and the party is my father; the only thing the party has said is that if you do not like this house, you can move to any house. Where shall I go? “This is my house.”
When asked if he would apologise to the President and the Senate, Ndume said: “The President and the Senate have nothing to do with this; the President did not take offense, I did not insult the President, I did not say anything against the party, but I left the party out of reaching out on issues, so please, I think that is all I can say.”
Confirming Ndume’s apology to the party, the National Chairman stated: “We are quite satisfied with his apology; as he stated, we invited him, and as a party, we are free to invite legislators, members of the executive, and even all appointed party members in the government.
“So, it’s a family matter that needs to be resolved. We are writing to the National Assembly to explain what happened between Senator Ndume and the party, and as you are aware, he apologized to them. When we do that, we hope the National Assembly will reconsider their stance.”
