LIVE UPDATES
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has begun consultations with the leadership of the Senate to reinstate the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume.
Recall that Ndume, representing Borno South Senatorial District, was relieved of the position for his public criticisms of President Bola Tinubu and the ruling APC.
The Borno lawmaker claimed that the President had been caged and shielded from feeling the hardships Nigerians were passing through, an action that irked the ruling party.
Ndume was immediately replaced by the senator representing Borno North, Tahir Monguno, following a directive issued to that effect in a letter written by the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi
Ganduje, and National Secretary, Senator Basiru Ajibola.
Last Tuesday, Ndume told journalists after a meeting with National Working Committee in Abuja that he had tendered an unreserved apology to the APC.
Confirming the development, the APC National Chairman, Ganduje, said Ndume’s apology was accepted, describing the situation as a family affair.
“We are writing to the National Assembly to convey what has transpired between Senator Ndume and the party. As you are aware, he has apologised to the party with the hope that they can review their position,” Ganduje said.
A source at the party secreteriat disclosed that the party had opened discussions with the leadership of the Senate to review Ndume’s removal as the Chief Whip.
“Just as the national chairman stated on Tuesday, the APC has begun consultations with the Senate leadership. As he rightly said the other day, it is a family issue,” the source said.
When contacted, the Deputy National Organising Secretary of the APC, Nze Chidi Duru, confirmed the ongoing consultations.
He said, “It is for us to recommend to the Senate to do the needful. I believe they are all party members who respect the APC. It was on that account that when the party felt there was something wrong in the way he addressed the public without allowing the party to hear him out, that we took the steps we took.
“But he has realised his mistake and come to the party to admit that he should have first discussed it with the APC before going public. In the end, the party looked at it and then had a handshake with him.
"So it is important that having had that handshake, in the wisdom of the national chairmen of the party, that he communicates to the leadership of the Senate just as we did in the first instance.
“There will be many backdoor consultations and discussions that would address all the parties concerned for the important thing to be done, not just on the surface of it. The APC is a party that is law-abiding. You know Ndume is a ranking member of the party and well respected too. That was why we embraced him with a golden handshake and the meeting ended in a convivial atmosphere.”
The National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, said the move to have Ndume reinstated as the Senate Chief Whip was not strange as the executive and legislative arms were free to reshuffle and reassign portfolios as they deem fit.
