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Tag: Ali Ndume

  • Over 5m IDPs face acute starvation – Senate

    The Senate on Wednesday raised the alarm over severe starvation in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

    The upper chamber said at least 5.2 million people in the IDP camps were likely to face acute hunger by June this year unless prompt action was taken to avert the danger.

    The lawmakers also said up to seven million people in the North East are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, while another 2.5 million children were already malnourished.

    The immediate-past Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, drew the attention of the Senate to the danger in a motion entitled: “The state of the humanitarian relief effort in the North East amidst high level of funding so far.”

    Ndume in his lead debate noted that despite the 73 per cent increase in donor funding for the humanitarian response in the North East, the situation was still bad.

    The Borno South lawmaker said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported that over $426 million has been received as at December 2016.

     

  • Senate: Full list of APC caucus who signed Ndume’s removal

    Senate: Full list of APC caucus who signed Ndume’s removal

    The caucus of the All Progressive Congress who signed the removal of Senator Ali Ndume as leader of the senate included 39 out of 63 Senators in the 109-member Senate.

    Recall that the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday announced Ndume’s removal shortly before the upper legislative chamber adjourned plenary.

    Saraki made the announcement following a letter he received from the APC caucus titled; ‘Notice of Vote of No Confidence/Change of Leadership’ in which the caucus requested for a change in the leadership.

    The letter which contained the list of Senators (See same below) who appended their signatures was captured in the Senate’s votes and proceedings of Tuesday, approved on Wednesday.

    Full List of the APC Caucus:

    1. Donald Alasoadura, Ondo Central
    2. Rafiu Adebayo, Kwara South
    3. Jibrin Barau, Kano North
    4. Baba Garbai, Borno Central
    5. Dino Melaye, Kogi West
    6. Abubakar Yusuf, Taraba Central
    7. Benjamin Uwajumogu, Imo North
    8. Mustapha Bukar, Katsina North
    9. Joshua Dariye, Plateau Central
    10. Ibrahim Gobir, Sokoto North
    11. Shaba Lafiagi, Kwara South
    12. Ibrahim Abdullahi, Sokoto South
    13. Francis Alimikhena, Edo Central
    14. Suleiman Nazif, Bauchi North
    15. Usman Nafada, Gombe North
    16. Kabiru Marafa, Zamfara Central
    17. Olugbenga Ashafa, Lagos East
    18. Tijjani Kaura, Zamfara North
    19. Suleiman Hunkuyi, Kaduna North
    20. Ubali Shittu, Jigawa Northeast
    21. Shehu Sani, Kaduna Central
    22. Magnus Abe, Rivers Southeast
    23. Aliyu Abdullahi, Niger North;
    24. Umaru Kurfi, Katsina Central
    25. Isa Misau, Bauchi Central
    26. Babajide Omoworare, Osun East
    27. Yahaya Abdullahi, Kebbi North
    28. Kabiru Gaya, Kano South
    29. Ali Wakili, Bauchi South
    30. Ahmed Yarima, Zamfara West
    31. Sabo Mohammed, Jigawa Southwest
    32. Ahmed Lawan, Yobe North
    33. Olarenwaju Tejuoso, Ogun Central
    34. David Umaru, Niger South
    35. Abdullahi Gumel, Jigawa Northwest
    36. Monsurat Sunmonu,  Oyo Central
    37. Binta Masi, Adamawa North
    38. Danjuma Goje, Gombe Central, and
    39. Rabiu Kwankwaso, Kano Central.
  • No crisis in Senate over Ndume’s removal – Saraki

    No crisis in Senate over Ndume’s removal – Saraki

    Senate President Bukola Saraki on Wednesday said there is no crisis in the Senate over the removal of Senator Ali Ndume as Senate Leader.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the Senate in a letter to the Senate President on Tuesday had replaced Ndume with Senator Ahmed Lawan.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Saraki said the institution is bigger than every senator.

    He said: “There is no crisis in the National Assembly, things like this do happen and as you said the institution is bigger than everybody and I am sure that he and everybody else will always work for the interest of the institution and for the interest of the country. Everything is calm, solid and fine.”

    Reminded about Ndume’s remark that he knew nothing about it, Saraki added: “I am sure you have not read his statement today. He has made a different statement today.”

    Asked to react to belief in some quarters that Ndume was sacrificed, he laughed and said: “Do I look like someone that does things like that?”

    On the purpose of his visit to the Villa, Saraki said: “You know getting the government going, getting the National Assembly moving and as you know there is nothing more important to us now than the budget process and the work we need to do in those areas.”

  • APC Senate caucus sacks leader Ali Ndume

    APC Senate caucus sacks leader Ali Ndume

    Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume was removed yesterday as the Senate Leader.

    Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, was replaced by Senator Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North).
    The change in leadership was said to have been concluded and sealed at a meeting of All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate Caucus held in Abuja on Monday.
    Ndume however claimed not to be aware of his sack. He was removed when he left the chamber to pray.
    Ndume’s replacement was contained in a letter addressed to Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate caucus.
    The letter, which was read on the floor of the Senate by Saraki, took many senators by surprise.
    There was pin-drop silence in the chamber as Saraki read the two-paragraph letter.
    Entitled “Notice of change of leadership” the letter reads: “This is to inform Your Excellency and the Senate that after several meetings held on Monday, 9th of January, 2017, and upon due deliberation and consultation, the APC Caucus of the Senate hereby wish to notify you of the change in the leadership of the Senate that the new Senate Leader is now Senator Ahmad Lawan, representing Yobe North Senatorial District. Kindly accept our esteem regards and best assurances.”
    Many APC senators were said to have endorsed the letter before it was forwarded to Saraki for announcement.
    It was not immediately clear what led to Ndume’s sudden removal. He is seen by many as being close to Saraki.
    Some insiders traced Ndume’s travail to his press conference at the Presidential Villa where he distanced himself from the resolution of the Senate to reject the nomination of Mr. Ibrahim  Magu as the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
    Ndume said the Senate did not actually reject Magu’s nomination was counted as one of the sins of the Borno South lawmaker.
    The Senate, through its spokesman, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, disowned Ndume and restated its resolve to reject Magu’s nomination.
    Some other observers traced Ndume’s removal to the cold war between the two main camps in the Senate – the Senate Unity Forum led by Senator Barnabas Gemade and the Like Minds Senators led by Saraki.
    Although Gemade was visible in the affairs of the Senate Unity Forum, Lawan was considered the unseen hand driving the activities of the Forum.
    Ndume’s removal, it was gathered, was part of a deal reached by the Senate Unity Forum and Like Minds senators to close ranks.
    After Saraki’s announcement, Ndume apparently shocked, rushed to address reporters over the incident.
    He said he was not consulted before he was fired.
    Ndume said: “Let me say I don’t have much to say because actually I was leading the business of the Senate and when it was like quarter to one, as usual, I asked my deputy to sit in for me while I go to pray.  “On coming back, I discovered that the session was over and one of your colleagues approached me and said, ‘leader, what happened?’ and I said, ‘what happened?’ and he said there has been an announcement of change of leadership. I said I didn’t know.
    “At this point that is the position. I didn’t know that there was change of leadership because I was not there.
    “I went to pray and I didn’t know what actually happened and I cannot say more than that.”
    Prodded to throw more light on what could have led to his removal, Ndume insisted that he was not consulted before the decision was taken.
    “I don’t know what happened and I cannot say what I do not know,” he said.
    Told that technically he had been fired, Ndume said: “Nobody has told me anything.”
    Abdullahi told reporters that with the announcement of Lawan, Ndume ceased to be the Senate Leader.
    Abdullahi said: “I speak for the Senate. You heard the content of the letter from the APC caucus.  I am not the spokesman of the APC caucus, but I am a member and I am here to speak for the Senate. It will be very difficult for me and I do not want to find myself in this controversy.
    “The announcement is self-explanatory. Another leader was announced and as far as I am concerned, the new name announced is the leader of the majority and automatically the Senate Leader.”
    Senator Kabiru Marafa, a close ally of Senator Lawan who spoke on Ndume’s removal, noted that APC factions in the Senate agreed to remove him.
    The Zamfara Central lawmaker noted that Ndume’s removal was also in line with Order 36 (g) of the Senate Standing Rules.
    Marafa said majority of APC senators endorsed the letter to remove Ndume as Senate Leader.
    He said: “Anybody who wished APC well wanted these changes in the Senate. What you have, seen today is a culmination of all the consultations and pressure that have been held by APC senators.
    “Our Standing Rules has specified how to remove the leadership of a party in the Senate. At the meeting where Ndume was removed, majority of APC lawmakers agreed.”
    On Ndume’s claim that he was not consulted before his removal, Marafa said: “Ndume does not need to know or be there. The Standing Rules says that the party has the rights to remove anybody. The majority accepted and that is final.”
    Marafa hinted that the next target of the APC caucus might be the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
    He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator should quickly defect to the APC to save his seat.
    Marafa said: “I am using this forum to ask the DSP Ike Ekweremadu to defect to the APC. It is not normal that you will count the Senate President as APC, Senate Leader as APC and then you count the Deputy Senate President as PDP. Senator Ekweremadu should simply come over to APC and everything will be over.”

  • Senate didn’t indict SGF – Ndume

    The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, on Monday said the upper chamber of the National Assembly has not indicted the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal.

    Ndume said the Senate has not taken decision on a committee’s report which seemed to indict the SGF.

    He also maintained that the Senate did not reject the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    He spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    On Senate recommendation for the sack of the SGF, he said “it’s not an order we are giving. The Senate resolution is a recommendation, it’s not a law. What the Senate considered is work in progress because it was an interim report.

    “It is the same members of the public that are interested and worried to know what we have done as a Senate about those allegations. The committee issued an interim report and the interim report seemed to indict the SGF. The consequences of that indictment are what they recommended but we are not there yet because the report itself is interim. Ok, we take the interim report and we give the public until the whole investigation is concluded.

    “I heard, coming from the SGF that he has not been given a fair hearing. So the hearing has not finished. We can give him an ample time to go before the committee and clear himself.”

    On Magu, Ndume said the Senate only demanded some clarification from President Buhari following a report received from the Department of State Service (DSS).

    He said, “No, no no. Let me say categorically that the Senate did not reject Ibrahim Magu as the chairman of EFCC. What happened was that when we slated his confirmation for Thursday, then we had an issue or a letter from the Department of State Security (DSS) that could not allow us to continue with the confirmation without further clarifications.

    “So, we now concluded that since we have a letter that we cannot ignore, we cannot do the confirmation. So, it was not that we sat down to take a decision that we have rejected Ibrahim Magu. So, I want to say that to come out clearly.”

     

     

  • 100 trucks of grains for IDPs diverted, Ndume alleges

    100 trucks of grains for IDPs diverted, Ndume alleges

    Senate Leader Ali Ndume yesterday alleged 100 trucks of grains meant for to Internally Displaced Persons in the North East were diverted during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Ndume made the assertion in Maiduguri while handing over grains supplied to the state by the federal government for IDPs.

    He claimed the 100 trucks were diverted by the same contractor who also cornered 31 trucks of grains meant for IDPs since April.

    The senate leader said the 100 trucks of grains were out of 600 trucks approved by Jonathan while the 31 missing trucks were out of the 300 approved by President Muhammadu Buhari in April.

    Ndume said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had delved into the issue of the grains diverted in April.

    “The contractor was reported to the EFCC for action and nine more trucks were recovered, the EFCC also promised to recover all the remaining trucks,” Ndume said.

    He said 29 trucks were traced to the National Strategic Reserve depot in Minna, leaving a total of 31 trucks unaccounted for.

    “I am passionate about the issue of the missing 31 trucks of grains because I am an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) myself.

    “After been given the trust to transport the grains, somebody went and diverted it, I am assuring you that the EFCC is doing its job on the matter,” Ndume said.

    He added: “When we dug up we found it was a cartel, a syndicate or at best a group of thieves doing this to us; there was a great connivance and head will roll.”

    “There is a second phase of the case coming up because they also stole our grains during the regime of Present Good luck Jonathan, am going to follow it up too.

    “Jonathan ordered the release of 600 trucks and they stole more than 100 trucks out of it,” he said.

    Ndume added: “They cannot go to sleep while I am alive. I will follow it up because it is the same contractor.”

  • Budget controversies fueled by Dogara, Jubrin ego – Ndume

    Budget controversies fueled by Dogara, Jubrin ego – Ndume

    The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, on Friday declared that the ongoing 2016 Budget padding controversies at the National Assembly are more of personal issues between the Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the sacked Chairman of House Committee on Appropriation, Abdumumuni Jubrin.

    He also said the controversies are fueled more by the media.

    There have been accusations and counter-accusations between the House of Representatives leadership headed by Dogara and Jubrin‎, when the later accused Dogara of supporting the 2016 Budget padding by N40 billion.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after Jumaat prayer with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Ndume said the 2016 Budget was the first time the national budget would be “collectively” produced by the National Assembly ‎and the executive, which the President signed into law after satisfactorily sighting its details.

    He also pointed out that the lawmakers have the constitutional right to amend the budget anyway they deem fit.

    He said: “The issue of budget padding is more of a media hype than reality. We are not doing budget now, we only have Appropriation Act which is a law and you know the process of implementing a law. I do not know where the issue of this budget padding we are talking about is coming from.

    “If we are not to tinker with the budget as submitted by the President, then there would not have been the need to submit it to the National Assembly.

    “We have the constitutional duty to add, subtract and adjust. That was what was done. This is the first time we did a budget that was collectively produced in the sense that it was done in such a way that the Senate, House of Representatives and the Executive played different parts.

    “This time, the President took his time to ensure that he did not only sign on the budget, but also signed on budget details that he is satisfied with.

    “What is happening now is a fallout between individuals, it is more of personal thing between Dogara and Jibrin. That is not the way differences should be settled. We have an in-house process that is followed if we have such issues. I am personally involved in reaching out to the parties involved.”

     

  • Senate alone can’t impeach Buhari – Ndume

    Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, on Monday dismissed reports of a planned impeachment process against President Muhammadu Buhari, saying it was untrue.

    Ndume said it is futile for anybody to think the Senate alone can impeach the President.

    The Senate leader told journalists in Abuja that impeachment process is never a sole business of the Senate.

    The Borno South lawmaker was emphatic that the Senate cannot impeach the President.

    He said, “The impeachment process is a National Assembly matter not the Senate alone. Senate cannot impeach the President. It is the National Assembly that can impeach the President. The Senate cannot impeach President Buhari.

    “It is the National Assembly and it is by 2/3 majority.

    “It is a process, a long tedious process and in this country we don’t even need that. We are not even contemplating it and even if anybody contemplates it, it is not going to work because this is an APC Senate.

    “We have the majority.  It is 60- 58 senators and you need 72 senators to start off impeachment process.

    “Where are they going to get the 24? Let me tell you as some of them are coming into PDP, many of them have their other legs with us in the APC.”

  • PDP congresses force Senate to adjourn

    The Senate on Thursday adjourned plenary for one week to allow the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senators to take part in their party congresses.

    Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, moved the motion that the business of the day as listed in the Order Paper be suspended following the absence of most PDP Senators in the chamber.

    Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, Deputy Minority Leader, who seconded the motion, however bemoaned what he termed wrong reportage of the press conference by Northern Senators’ Forum on herdsmen/farmers clashes on Wednesday.

    Senator Bwacha noted that what was reported was not the position of the forum that murderers masquerading as herdsmen should be spared.

    According to him, what the forum decided was that people should be mindful of what they say in order not to further inflame passion in the country.

    Senator Dino Melaye, who also commented on the issue, said that at no time did the Northern Senators’ Forum warn governors to watch what they say on the herdsmen/farmer clashes.

    He re-echoed Bwacha’s view that the forum merely wanted Nigerians to avoid inflammatory utterances that would further divide the country.

    The Senate will reconvene for plenary on May 12.

  • Senate to probe power sector funding since 1999

    Senate to probe power sector funding since 1999

    The Senate on Thursday commissioned a panel to conduct a holistic investigation into management of funds allocated to the power sector since 1999.

    The ad-hoc committee is also mandated to look into the unbundling of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    The 13-man committee that will look at irregularities in the power sector is headed by Senator Abubakar Kyari (Borno North).

    It is expected to conclude its investigation and report back to the Senate within four weeks.

    This followed the adoption of a motion on “The disconnection of Maiduguri from the National Grid and General Power Degeneration in Nigeria,” sponsored by the Leader of the Senate, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume.

    Other members of the committee are – Senators Godswill Akpabio, Babajide Omoworare, Mohammed Hassan, Ali Wakili, Mao Ohuabunwa, Aliyu Magatakarda  Wamakko , Olusola Adeyeye and Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi.

    The Senate urged President Muhammadu  Buhari  to mandate  the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to immediately reconnect Maiduguri  back to the national grid.

    The lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to complete the Mambilla Power Project to improve electricity supply in the country.

    They condemned the inability of TCN to provide regular and uninterrupted power supply to all parts of the country.

    Ndume expressed worry that Nigeria with a population of over 150 million produces only 4, 600Mega watts of electricity, while South Africa with population of about 40 million people produces 40,000Mega watts.