For Attacking Tinubu, Senate Sacks Ali Ndume as Chief Whip; Appoints Mohammed Monguno as Replacement

For what the top brass of the All Progressives Congress, APC, considered as unbecoming of a loyal party man, the Senate has kicked out outspoken Senator Ali Ndume as the Majority Whip, and replaced him with Senator Mohammed Monguno, member representing  from Borno North, also Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.

The decision to sack Ndume, was conveyed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio via a letter signed by the National Chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and the National Secretary, Mr. Ajibola Bashiru.

Titled: Complaints Against the Unbecoming Utterances of Sen. Ali Ndume, the letter, which was read by Akpabio during the plenary session, expressed the displeasure of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC regarding Ndume’s criticism of the government and the party.

It described Ndume’s actions as not in sync with the high responsibility and decorum expected from a ranking member and principal officer of the Senate.

The NWC didn’t stop there. It also declared Ndume’s criticisms not only as baseless but also capable of rubbishing the administration’s image as well as undermining the party’s unity and cohesion. The party even asserted that the senator’s comments could block foreign direct investments in Nigeria.

In particular, the party was grieved by Ndume’s recent interview on a national television where he reportedly declared that the Tinubu Administration was populated by thieves.

The party decried the statement and inferred that it was the hallmark of a person intent on undermining the country and the party through propaganda.

Consequently, the party requested that Ndume be removed and Senator Mohammed Monguno be appointed as the new Majority Whip of the Senate. The party also admonished Ndume to resign from APC and pitch his tent with any opposition party of his choice.

Here are excerpts from the letter:

“I’m writing on behalf of the National Working Committee of our great party to express our displeasure, our outrage and our deep disappointment at the unbecoming, unfounded and baseless criticism of the government and the party, the APC by your majority whip of the Senate, Sen. Ali Ndume as a member of the ruling party. 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 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 insightments and chief propaganda.

“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 grass 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 and 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 petition the members of the APC caucus in the senate may have, but we are of the opinion that distinguished senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno should immediately replace distinguished Sen. Ali Ndume who is bent on bringing down the country as the majority whip of the Senate.”

Here, also, is part of the interview that got Ndume into trouble:

“Mr. President is not in the picture of what is happening outside the Villa. He has been fenced off and caged. Many of us won’t go through the backdoor to engage him.

“Now, they have stopped him from talking, and he doesn’t have public affairs managers, except for his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, who writes press statements. Nigerians are getting very angry.

“The government is not doing anything about food scarcity, and it needs to act urgently. We don’t have food reserves. A food crisis is the worst crisis any nation can encounter. If we add that to the security crisis, it will be severe.

“The President should wake up. It seems he isn’t in the picture of what is happening because he has been caged off by plutocrats. He should open his doors and meet those who will tell him the truth.

“Unfortunately, the people who will tell him the truth won’t struggle to meet him. I am very worried, not only for the President himself but for myself.”