The Senate has rejected a motion seeking to take punitive measures against former chief whip, Ali Ndume over a statement made during an interview where he referred to the Lawmakers as “kleptomaniacs”.
The move was rejected when a point of order was raised by Senator Fasuyi Cyril representing Ekiti North on Wednesday.
Sen. Cyril had urged the Senate to take punitive measures against Ndume over the said comment.
However, when the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio eventually put to a voice vote on whether the matter be referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, there was unanimous rejection.
The Senate then dissolved into an executive session.
The move comes after the Senate replaced Ndume with Tahir Munguno as Chief Whip.
Ndume’s replacement by the Senate followed a directive issued to that effect in a letter written by the National Chairman of the party, Umar Ganduje and National Secretary, Senator Bashir Ajibola.
The request was put to voice votes by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and loudly affirmed by all the APC senators
Ndume, representing Borno Senate, who was conspicuously absent today, has been making critical remarks about President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, the economic hardship, food scarcity and the concomitant security crisis.
Ndume accused Tinubu’s aides of “shielding and fencing in” their principal from lawmakers and ministers.
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He also accused the President of being out of touch with some of the issues plaguing the country, including food crisis and insecurity.
Ndume reportedly told journalists on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, that the President had been “fenced off by plutocrats.”
“The government is not doing anything about the food scarcity and it needs to do something urgently. We don’t have a food reserve. There is an unavailability of food. Food crisis is the worst crisis that 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. He has been fenced 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,” he stated during the interview.
Ndume was not only stripped of his position as Chief Whip, but the committee he co-chaired as Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations.
He has been moved to Chair the Senate Committee on Tourism.
Credible News.ng
