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  • Ndume: we’re eager to change people’s perception of Senate

    Ndume: we’re eager to change people’s perception of Senate

    Senate Leader Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume yesterday said the Senate was eager to change people’s perception of it.

    The Senate leader spoke with reporters in Abuja.

    He added that impeachment process is never a sole business of the Senate.

    Ndume said: “You know after the inauguration of the Eighth Senate, we had issues and all of you know about it. So, there was a kind of continuous turbulence in the Senate and as we go through we try to find out how to settle that turbulence.

    “Part of which is like having a fair sharing of the committees and of course complying with directives of the party or the leadership structure, this is the fact of the matter.

    “As we get along we felt that since the extension of hand of friendship from both ends to do more in other to have a smooth Senate that we would be able to have an environment where we are supposed to do our primary responsibility, execute our primary responsibility effectively that is lawmaking, stabilising the system.

    “You know it has gotten to a level where Nigerians think Senate is more or less a burden or we are just thinking or talking about ourselves.

    “Senate has become a chamber where we always go in closed door session to discuss about ourselves or summoning people to come before us to discuss ourselves.

    “So we felt that we should not continue and the Senate president felt what do we do to get this overweight.

    “Part of the demand of the Unity Forum as at then is the issue of committees, the issue of the leadership and the Senate president did what he can and that of the committee is at the discretion and it is within the powers of the selection committee which the Senate President is the chairman.

    “He brought this proposal before us and we felt that there is nothing too much for guarantee of peace.

    “This is a routine thing that is normally done and we gave him the go ahead to effect these changes hoping that will now sooth some nerves and provide us with the conducive environment to continue our job.”

    He dismissed insinuations about a plot to initiate impeachment process against President Muhammadu Buhari, as the figment of the imagination of promoters of the story.

    Ndume said it is futile for any body to think that the Senate alone can impeach the president.

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

    He noted that the majority All Progressives Congress (APC) senators would make any impeachment a mission impossible.

    He noted that it is obvious the APC has the majority in the chamber to forestall any impeachment plot.

    Ndume urged those spreading the rumour of impeachment of the President to perish the idea because nothing like that existed in the Senate.

    No Senator, he said, talked about impeachment of the president.

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

    “It is the National Assembly and it is by 2/3. It is by the clearly stating impeachable offences served on the person then if he fails to respond.

    “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 APC Senate.

    “We have the majority, we have 58 to 60 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, so many of them their other legs are already with us in APC. Many of the senators will come over to the APC. That issue of impeachment we don’t need it. We don’t have a president that has issues of corruption.

    “We have a President that is straight-forward and he doesn’t have any mismanagement, abuse of due process.”

    On the alleged padding of the 2016 budget he said: “I don’t want to say that there was budget padding and I don’t want to talk about something I really don’t know but what is happening in the House of Representatives is just very unfortunate because we have processes and procedures of doing things in the National Assembly.”

     

  • Senate to pass budget before March 31, says Ndume

    Senate to pass budget before March 31, says Ndume

    •Gbajabiamila: Buhari not to blame for inconsistencies in proposal

    The Senate will pass this year’s budget before the end of next month, Ali Ndume said yesterday.

    The Senate leader said the 2015 budget would end next month and it was the desire of the Senate to pass the 2016 budget before that time.

    Ndume said contrary to reports in the media, the Senate did not suspend its passage indefinitely, but only said February 25 “may not be feasible”.

    The Senate leader noted that it was the wish of the National Assembly to pass the budget five weeks before the expiry of the period set for the implementation of the 2015 budget.

    But he explained that it would not be possible due to some errors.

    His words: “We have not postponed it indefinitely; we are saying that with the developments we are seeing, the February 25 deadline may not be realistic.

    “That is why we now said that going by this, it is not possible to say we will come back on February 25 and say this is the budget; we are not saying that we have suspended it indefinitely.

    “The reason we fixed February 25 was because we wanted to have a gap of five weeks,” he said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    The Senate leader said the gap would have enabled the Senate fix whatever issues that needed to be handled before the March 31 deadline for the implementation of the 2015 budget.

    The leadership of the National Assembly, Ndume said, met with ministers to iron out the grey areas and make corrections to the contentious areas.

    He assured Nigerians that the Senate would ensure strict compliance with the implementation of the budget.

    Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday exonerated President Muhammadu  Buhari for the inconsistencies in the 2016 budget.

    The lawmaker, who made the statement while receiving leaders of the National Association of Nigerians Students in Abuja at the weekend, said the civil servants should be blamed.

    He said: “I’m going to absolve the President; but I’m not going to absolve the people that put it in. Why I must absolve the President, I will tell you.

    “The job was done by civil servants; it’s always been done by civil servants

    The President does not sit in a ministry, he doesn’t know what’s going on in a ministry or what they need or do not need.

    “The argument can be that the buck stops at his desk. I agree with that. He must take responsibility. Under the constitution, he has the right to delegate his work to ministers. And he delegated the issue of budget and planning to the minister of Budget and Planning.

    “Where I think the ball was dropped, was with the minister of Budget and Planning. Because after the civil servants, whether intentionally or not, did what they did, it was for the minister of Budget and National Planning to vet and scrutinise those things before coming to the House, or the National Assembly. It’s not for the President to do so.”

    The lawmaker reminded the students that it was Buhari who first drew the attention of Nigerians to the issues in the budget.

    Also, Senator Gbenga Ashafa yesterday assured Nigerians that the 2016 budget would be transparently passed and that there won’t be hidden figures.

    Speaking with reporters in Lagos at the weekend, Ashafa promised that the Presidency and the National Assembly would not cover up for any shortcomings in the budget.

    He assured the citizens that they would get the best from the budget.

  • Ndume: why I visited Buhari, Tinubu

    Ndume: why I visited Buhari, Tinubu

    Senate Leader Mohammed Ali Ndume yesterday confirmed that he visited President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    He denied that the visits had to do with the leadership crisis in the Senate.

    Ndume spoke with reporters in Abuja.

    He noted that the Senate under Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki had put the leadership tussle behind it.

    He said the main concentration of the Senate now was to support the Buhari administration to tackle the problems confronting the country.

    The Borno South Senator claimed that he had been visiting Buhari and Tinubu on regular basis in the last 12 years because they were his political mentors.

    He said: “On  my reported visit to Buhari, I am the  leader of the Eight Senate. My duties are: One, to lead the legislative business of the Senate; Two, to prepare the schedules of the Senate, and Three, to liaise with other committees.

    “I am supposed to be the presenter of all government bills to the Presidency. So, in fact I am supposed to be in the Villa almost every day. My going to Villa is not supposed to be a big deal.

    “Of course, I go to the Villa frequently, because we compare notes on bills that are going to come, including on these relationships.”

    Ndume said other senators are also supposed to go to the Presidential Villa on personal basis and to interact with the President.

    He noted:  “A newspaper (The Nation) reported yesterday that I was seen at Asiwaju’s place. Asiwaju is one of my mentors and of course the President, too. I have two political mentors: the President and Asiwaju.

    “I have been going there before now for the past 12 years. So, my going to the Villa is not a new thing and so also is my visit to Tinubu. He is one of the people I respect and appreciate.

    “During his 60th birthday, he invited 60 people that were close to him and I was one of them.”

    On the controversial investigation of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,(EFCC) Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, Ndume admitted that the Senate Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee had committed procedural errors.

    He said that steps would be taken to correct the errors

    He said:  “ I think there were some procedural lapses there (Lamorde’s probe)  but I don’t want to believe it was deliberate because there is no way you can cut corners or use the institution of the Senate to settle personal scores, it doesn’t work that way.

    “After all, whatever decision you take has to be considered on the floor of the Senate and it has to be passed.

  • Senate to introduce e-legislation to enhance debates -Ndume

    The Senate Leader, Sen. Ali Dume, said on Sunday that the senate would introduce e-legislation to engender “robust and effective debates’’ at the National Assembly.

    Ndume told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri that electronic legislation was part of the initiative of the new leadership to make the National Assembly more vibrant.

    “We are trying to make this National Assembly different from the previous assemblies by introducing reforms and accountable leadership.”

    He said that the present senate had unfolded some legislative agenda at the beginning to set out its goals and objectives.

    “We started by unfolding a legislative agenda, which clearly spelt out what Nigerians should expect from us, the essence is to make the National Assembly more vibrant.

    “This time around, we are going to have a more proactive and more vibrant senate and House of Representatives.”

    He said that the reforms had started yielding dividends as the pattern of debates on the floor of the senate had changed for the better.

    “If you have followed our recent debates in the senate for example, you will notice a remarkable difference from the past.

    “The procedure of our debate has changed unlike in the previous senate when debates were just anyhow; the discussions have been restructured to keep Nigerians keeping abreast.

    “By the time a debate is going on you as a Nigerian will be able to follow and even take side.”

    Ndume said that the senate had started using e-mails to send order paper of the senate to senators.

    “In the past, senators only got ideas of the day’s legislative business when they picked the order paper at the chamber.

    “This makes it difficult for them to contribute effectively in the debate on the floor.

    “But we changed that now, we have started sending the order paper to senators, using their e-mail addresses and this is done early enough to prepare them for active debate.”

    Ndume expressed regret that majority of the senators had not yet acquired literacy in ICT, saying that this handicap would hinder the efficiency of the system.

    “We are facing some hitches in this direction as some senators are not ICT compliant. But we will move on as time goes by.”

    Ndume said, however, that the order paper was being delivered manually to senators who were yet to be ICT literate, pending when things would change for the better.

    “Every evening, senators receive the order paper for the next day’s sitting either through e-mail or manually and get prepared.

    “Each senator will be able to prepare and organise himself for the debate if he is interested.

    “We have also created platforms for senators interested in contributing to debates to signify their interest online to the senate president.”

  • Lawan group seeks removal of Ndume, Na’Allah as Senate leaders

    Lawan group seeks removal of Ndume, Na’Allah as Senate leaders

    •South-West Caucus spurns Saraki’s offer of  Chief Whip

    The Unity Forum in the Senate is insisting on Alhaji Ali Ndume stepping down as Senate Leader and Alhaji Bala Ibn Na’Allah  as Deputy Senate Leader as a condition for working with Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Members of the forum want Dr. Ahmed Lawan as Senate Leader with Sen. George Akume as his deputy in line with the recommendations of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    It was learnt that the new peace terms accounted for the refusal of the South-West Caucus to fill the slot of the Chief Whip of the Senate allotted to it.

    But loyalists of Saraki yesterday said “the conditions are like turning back the hand of the clock.”

    Some pro-Saraki Senators prefer juicy committees for those in Lawan’s camp.

    Lawan’s supporters, according to investigation said that Saraki cannot be seeking reconciliation without making concessions to show respect for party supremacy.

    It was gathered that the two sides had met with President Muhammadu Buhari on how to restore the lingering Cold War in the Senate.

    While pro-Saraki Senators are pushing for an unconditional reconciliation, those in Lawan’s camp said the Senate President should defer to the party and the crisis will be over immediately he does so.

    A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The loyalists of Saraki met with President Muhammadu Buhari for reconciliation without making any concrete offer to pacify the aggrieved.

    “They only said if all the parties are reconciled, they know what to do to accommodate all. That is a flat and tricky reconciliation proposal.

    “They were not forthcoming on the fate of Lawan and Akume who are central to the politics in the Senate.”

    A respected Senator said: “The aggrieved Senators want Ndume and Na’Allah to step down for Lawan and Akume in line with the wishes of the party. They said the day Saraki defers to the party, the disagreement within the APC Caucus in the Senate will end.

    “The Lawan group said it has nothing personal against Saraki but he should make concessions too in order to put the crisis behind the Senate. The loyalists of the President of the Senate want to eat their cake and have it.”

    A third source said: “When the Abdulsalami Committee members met with Saraki, they expressed concern that the crisis in the Senate was heating up the polity.

    “They also advised Saraki to accommodate all and ensure reconciliation to stabilize the Senate.”

    As at press time, it was not immediately clear if Ndume’s recent shuttles to the South-West were connected with the demands of the Lawan group, the position of the South-West Caucus or the peace terms of Saraki.

    “I know Ndume is unrelenting in his shuttles and talks with party leaders. He seems to be playing the role of a crisis manager now, the source added.

    The letter, referenced APC/NHDQ/NAM/01/015/05, said: “Please find below for your necessary action names of principal officers approved by the party, after excessive consultations for the 8th Senate as follows: Sen. Ahmed Lawan (Majority Leader)–North-East; Prof. Sola Adeyeye (Chief Whip)–South-West; Sen. George Akume (Deputy Majority Leader) —North-Central; and Sen. Abu Ibrahim (Deputy Chief Whip) —North-West.”

    But adopting Caucus Politics to sideline the Lawan group, Saraki’s power sharing formula led to the emergence of the following principal officers: Ali Ndume( Senate Leader); Bala Ibn Na’Allah( Deputy Senate Leader); Francis Ailimikhene (Deputy Chief Whip).

    Although the office of the Chief Whip was ceded to the South-West, Senators from the geopolitical zone have spurned the offer from Saraki.

    The Senators from the South-West insisted that Lawan and Akume must be accommodated before considering any offer from Saraki.

    A Senator said: “Our colleagues from the South-West prefer not to fill the Chief Whip slot at all if Saraki does not make concessions.

    “So far, they have spurned the office in spite of the fact that a high-ranking Senator, Prof. Sola Adeyeye, has been recommended for it.”

  • Senate: Ndume, others named principal officers

    Senate: Ndume, others named principal officers

    Three Senators Thursday assumed office as principal officers of the red chamber.

    They are; Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, Borno, North East who assumed the position of Senate Majority leader.

    Also, Senator Bala Ibn Na’allah representing Kebbi South Senatorial district assumed the office of the deputy senate leader, while Senator Francis Alimikhena, representing the Edo North Senatorial district took the seat of Senate Deputy Chief Whip.

    The office of the Chief Whip is yet to be filled.

    The principal officers were said to have assumed office when the senate president Bukola Saraki, read their nomination letters from their respective zonal caucuses.

  • Ndume weeps after voting

    A Senator representing Borno South senatorial district, Sen. Ali Ndume, wept after casting his vote at the Internally Displaced Persons’ camp located in Government College, Maiduguri, on Saturday.

    Ndume, a native of Gwoza, said his burst of emotions was caused by the suffering his people are going through at the camps, saying the experience was horrible.

    “Any time I come to this camp, I always break into tears because of what I see. I always try to pull myself together but my emotions always failed me.

    “I can’t control my emotion because I see people that were wealthy that were now suffering. People who used to give out to other people had now become beggars. This is the failure of leadership in our country and I hope this election will give us the desired change that we yearn for,” Ndume said.

  • Boko Haram: FG to file fresh evidence against Ndume

    Boko Haram: FG to file fresh evidence against Ndume

    The Federal Government has indicated its intention to call additional witnesses and produce fresh evidence in support of its case against a serving Senator from Borno State, Aliyu Ndume.
    Ndume is standing trial before a Federal High Court in Abuja on allegation that he has a link with the Boko Haram sect.
    The federal government’s plan to add fresh evidence and call more witnesses was contained in a motion filed by the office of Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
    On Tuesday, a lawyer from the office of the AGF, E. Orji, moved the motion and urged the court to allow him file additional proof of evidence against Ndume.
    “The application is intended to give the accused person a fair hearing and also the right to cross-examine the witness and contradict the evidence that shall be given.
    “We urge this court to grant this motion and dismiss the counter affidavit of the accused because it is intended to cause a clog in the wheel of justice,” he said.
    Ndume opposed the government’s plan and urged the court to turn down the request to file additional proof of evidence and call additional witnesses against him.
    His lawyer, I. A. Kaigama, told the court that the motion will overreach the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which set aside the admission, by the trial court, of some evidence, including compact discs (CDs) and call log, earlier tendered by the prosecution.
    “The motion constitutes a gross abuse of the process of the court and should be refused. The application has no fact to convince the court to grant it.
    “Bringing additional evidence will amount to unfair trial for the accused person,” Kaigama said.
    The trial judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, has fixed May 27 for ruling.

     

  • Boko-Haram: Lack of witnesses stalls Ndume’s trial

    Boko-Haram: Lack of witnesses stalls Ndume’s trial

    The scheduled resumption of the trial of an alleged Boko Haram sponsor, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, was stalled yesterday, following the prosecution’s failure to present its witnesses.

    The prosecution was expected to call its witnesses yesterday, in continuation of the trial, after the Court of Appeal gave its judgment in two interlocutory appeals by the accused.

    Ndume had challenged the admission of some electronic evidence tendered by the prosecution, led by O. T. Olatigbe of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

    Although defence lawyer, Rickey Tarfa (SAN), tendered the appellate court’s composite judgment on his client, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, who said he was seeing the judgment for the first time, agreed to proceed with trial.

    He noted that since the judgments only touched on the admissibility of some exhibits earlier admitted in the trial, the defence could, at the final address stage, ask that such evidence be expunged from the court’s records.

    The judge proceeded with trial and asked the prosecution team to present its witness.

    After some delays, the prosecution called its third witness, Aliyu Baka (a security personnel), whose presence in the dock lasted few minutes. He was only invited to confirm the statement he obtained from the accused.

    When Baka stepped off the witness stand, the prosecution was expected to call more witnesses, but it said the other three witnesses it invited were not available.

    Olatigbe prayed the court to adjourn the case to a further date, a request that prompted the court to adjourn to March 31.

    Ndume, a Senator from Borno State, is facing terrorism-related charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja. He was arraigned before Justice Kolawole on December 12, last year, on a four-count charge by the Department of State Services (DSS).

    He is accused of sponsoring the Boko Haram sect and failing to disclose the cell phone number of Konduga, which was alleged to be in his (Ndume’s) possession.

    The prosecution, through its third witness, tendered, on December 11 and 14, 2012, some call logs and three digital video discs (DVDs) containing the call data records intended to prove the allegation that Ndume interacted with some Boko Haram members.

  • Boko-Haram: Absence of witnesses stalls Ndume’s trial

    Boko-Haram: Absence of witnesses stalls Ndume’s trial

    The scheduled resumption of the trial of an alleged Boko Haram sponsor, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, was stalled on Thursday over the prosecution’s failure to present its witnesses.

    The prosecution was expected to call its witnesses in continuation of trial after the Court of Appeal had given its judgment in two interlocutory appeals filed by the accused, challenging the admission of some electronic evidence tendered by the prosecution led by O. T. Olatigbe of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

    Although defence lawyer, Rickey Tarfa (SAN) tendered the appellate court’s composite judgment on his client’s on Thursday Justice Gabriel Kolawole, who said he was seeing the judgment for the first time, elected to proceed with trial.

    He noted that since the judgments only touched on admissibility of some exhibits earlier admitted in the trial, the defence could not, at the final address stage, ask that such evidence be expunged from the court’s records.

    He elected to proceed with trial and asked the prosecution team to present its witnesses.

    After some delays, the prosecution called its third witness, Aliyu Baka (a security personnel), whose presence in the dock lasted few minutes. He was only invited to confirm the statement he obtained from the accused person.

    When Baka stepped off the witness stand, the prosecution was expected to call more witnesses, but to everyone’s dismay, the prosecution said the other three witnesses it invited were not available.

    Olatigbe prayed the court to adjourn the case to a further date, and the judge promptly picked March 31 for hearing.