Protesters hit Abuja over Ndume’s removal as Senate Chief Whip

A large group of Borno State indigenes, on Wednesday, gathered at the Unity Fountain in Abuja to protest the Senate’s decision to remove Senator Ali Ndume (APC Borno South) from his position as Senate Chief Whip.

The aggrieved protesters carried placards with various inscriptions like, “We reject removal of Senator Ndume as Whip of the Senate; “Ndume’s utterances are for the good of the country; “Senate should correct injustice meted to Senator Ndume” amongst others.

Last Tuesday, the Senate removed Senator Ali Ndume as Chief Whip, acting on a request from the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress. The request was made in a joint letter signed by National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje and Secretary Senator Ajibola Basiru. Senator Mohammed Monguno (APC Borno North) was subsequently appointed as Ndume’s replacement.

Expressing their displeasure over the Senate’s action, the Borno group under the aegis of the Southern Borno Development Association led by one Muhammad Biu, said the injustice meted out to Ndume must be redress.

The leader of the group in a letter titled: “Appeal over the removal of Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume as Senate Whip for expressing views on burning National Issues,” read to journalists, called for reversal of the decision.

The letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, reads in part, “On behalf of the good people of Southern Borno Senatorial District of Borno State, we humbly wish to appeal to the Distinguished Senate under your able leadership to passionately reconsider the APC Senate Caucus decision that removed Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume as the Senate Chief Whip and also Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation based on the letter written to the Senate by the National Chairman of All Progressive Congress.

“We wish to state with the deepest sense of responsibility that Senator Ndume’s comments on the food insecurity issue appear to have been misunderstood as they were not intended to disparage the administration of President Bola Tinubu. On the contrary, it should be understood in the context of our collective effort to find solutions to our current food insecurity which the Government is fully aware.”

It added, “It is a well-known fact that Nigeria is currently facing a severe food crisis, with widespread hunger threatening the well-being of Nigerians. Senator Ndume, driven by a sense of responsibility and patriotism only called the attention of government to these pressing issues, hoping that prompt and effective action would be taken to address them.

“It is also on record that other prominent APC Senators had expressed similar views on the floor of the Senate and equally called on President Tinubu to take urgent measures to avert the seeming imminent food crisis.

“It is also on record that Sen Ndume is a dedicated APC member who laboured tirelessly from its formative stage to its present position and has never done anything that undermined the success of the party or its leadership, but rather offered constructive advice on good governance for the wellbeing of Nigerians.”

The letter further noted, “The Senate could have done better by deploying its internal democratic mechanism of resolving issues affecting its members. We pray that the Senate will not throw away the bath water with the baby over an issue that could amicably be resolved.

“In light of these facts and the need to give our Senatorial District its due position in the leadership of the Senate, we humbly appeal to the Senate to reconsider its position on the measures taken against Senator Ndume in the interest of fairness, justice, and equity and reinstate him accordingly.

“Additionally, we urge President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, GCFR, the leader of our great party, a true democrat who upholds the tenets of democracy to passionately intervene.”