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Tag: Senator Ali Ndume

  • Ali Ndume: Deodorising politics of disloyalty

    Ali Ndume: Deodorising politics of disloyalty

    Sir: Senator Ali Ndume appeared on a national television to double down on his reckless rhetoric at the risk of becoming loose cannon. In his feeble justification of verbal fusillades against the president and his aides, Ndume would refer to the Republican Senator Jeff Flake’s tirade on Donald Trump’s immigration policy for 25 minutes.

    Drawing comparisons with the Nigerian government’s adherence to the principle of free speech, the senator forgot that any politician opposing Donald Trump’s policies is immediately branded a lunatic by Donald Trump and declared unelectable in the mid-term congressional elections by the president using the apparatus of the state and the MAGA political might.

    Jeff Flake has since declared that he would not be seeking a re-election.

    In contrast, the president of Nigeria is too cultured and restrained to publicly declare a senator a lunatic even when the senator went to the extreme of calling one of his aides a “domestic servant” and a “mega dog” – whatever that means.

    It is the vestiges of colonial carryover that keeps Nigerians especially the privileged political class of Ndume’s type to celebrate bad behaviours in the United States and Europe as norm whilst dismissing every little effort at home.

    Ndume has been railing against the president and still enjoys liberty to press his acerbic rhetoric on multiple media platforms without being hounded like the American senator.

    Read Also: Nigeria opens door to new economy as Tinubu signs landmark tax reform laws

    Recall that Democratic US Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles on June 12 and placed in handcuffs. The senator was seized and dragged on the floor before he was arrested by the FBI simply for seeking audience in a similitude of what Ndume is enjoying in Nigeria without a whimper from the Nigerian police.

    As much as the government needs constructive criticism particularly those pivoted on logical synopsis and informed statistical parameters, the reckless and uninformed invectives on government officials ought to be an anathema to any intellectual discourse.

    Nigerians are not quick to forget Ali Ndume’s pathetic hubris on the Tax Reform Bills calling them Dead on Arrival and insisting he would not read the bills thus demonstrating his aversion to reading and poor attention to details. This calls to question how such a politician finds himself in the National Assembly.

    Ndume’s triumphalist personification of politics of disloyalty dating back to his trajectory in CPC and PDP is a reflection of the dysfunctional party politics accentuated by literacy vacuity amongst electorates in Nigeria.

    It is high time the television anchors took Ndume to task on the value he has added to his constituency as a basis for his many political pontifications and not how much he could contribute to bringing down the federal government through dubious flirtation with the so-called political coalition.

    •ESV Bukola Ajisola, bukymany@yahoo.com

  • Northern group slams Ndume over tax bills

    Northern group slams Ndume over tax bills

    The Northern Redemption Coalition (NRC) has slammed Senator Ali Ndume, (Borno South) for his views on the tax reform bills before the National Assembly.

    President Bola Tinubu sent four bills to the National Assembly, including the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Tax Administration Bill, and the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, meant to repeal the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Act and create the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.

    The Northern Governors Forum (NGF) opposed the VAT bill, claiming it would impoverish the North, a position that drew widespread condemnation from northern youth groups and professionals.

    Ndume joined the train when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday and said the bills are dead on arrival and should be thrown out.

    But the Northern Redemption Coalition (NRC) president, Comrade Adamu Bashir, cautioned Ndume against overinflating his political worth and following, as his position does not reflect the acceptance of the tax bills among the discerning population of Nigerians.

    Bashir said: “It is the failure of leaders like Ndume to develop the North that has left them with the phobia they have for the tax bills, which President Tinubu have demonstrated, can turn the economy around.

    Read Also: Buhari visits Gov Zulum, Ndume others over Maiduguri flooding

    “While he claimed to be speaking for the poor in the country, it turned out he cannot even speak for the North, and certainly, he appears disconnected from his constituents.

    “Instead of his tenuous attempt at cheap populism, Ndume should reassess his position relative to the reality of the time by reviewing his errant stance to refocus his activity in a way that justifies his supposed love for the North.”

    Bashir lamented that Ndume, through his take on the tax bills, was perpetrating the wrong notion of a lazy and entitled North, when this part of the country is not known for being resistant to taxes. 

    He stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, the North is not afraid of the new tax bills. The North rather fears leaders like Ndume and our Governors, who have refused to distribute wealth evenly, build schools for our teeming population of young people out of school, and empower our vulnerable women.

    “We envisage that the people of Borno South Senatorial District would eventually realise that it is time to recall Ndume as he has proven that he would always sabotage their interest in the pursuit of his populist posturing.”

  • Blood oath

    Blood oath

    Let us not quibble. First things first. I want Senator Ali Ndume to come clean. Does he have blood relations, in-laws, children, et al, working in the Central Bank of Nigeria? As lawyers say, those who come to equity must have clean hands. We don’t live in a world of fairytale morality. No one pleads sainthood. Let us, before playing hero, first confess our frailties. And then beg forgiveness.

    Mind you, if it is true, it does not dilute or aggravate his case against Nigeria’s top bank. Hypocrites are known sometimes to propose a righteous line. But be true to yourself before making disciples of others. Or else you are a pharisee. If he is guilty, then the distinguished senator, with his coarse voice and regional and messianic bravado, swaggers with an underarm of cobwebs. It means he spoke on Channels Television with a blood oath, the oath to defend his family’s spoils. He has conflated family with region. He has committed a fallacy of category swap. Family is family. Tribe is tribe. Region is region. Private interest is not the public good. He is making hypocrisy hip and paranoia into a purpose in order to evangelise brotherly hate.

    If he is not guilty, then let us toast the facts. But if he is, he does not belong in the conversation. We should address the logic of his concerns but not his pharisaic impulse. I would say same of Bashir Dalhatu, a former minister posing as a statesman, who turned logic into an absurd play on television. People like him flaunt SAN because of the low bar of assessors who make anyone who reaches the Supreme Court a gem. How many Supreme Court passengers are SANs? Many of them ride the coattails and benevolence of clients who insist on taking their matters to the top court or lawyers whose happy shoulders heave little ones for the ride.

    Read Also: We want Wike in APC – Tony Okocha

    Some say FAAN and the CBN should have explained their actions before decision. Now that the explanation has been offered, are they satisfied? No, of course.

    It is the royal sense. The entitled sense. They feel they know how things ought to be done after it has been rightly done. It is not rightly done not because it is right but because they, the right people, have not anointed it. They are the reason the nation is foot heavy, and lumbering into the future.

    Royals never bow to reason. Technocrats live in an opposite realm. Clash is inevitable. Take, for instance, the point about an overcrowded CBN building. It is now our tower of financial babel. The building marked a little over 2000 persons now domiciles over 4,000. Is that not official suicide? The building will not go down at once. Its structural integrity will suffer gradual violation. A creak here, a crack there. Just last year, such a building collapsed in Garki in Abuja. We have had a few in Lagos. The often-congested lift may lose its hinges, and that recalls the youth corps member who died at General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island  last year because of routine negligence. CBN workers confess tight work space, and lack of creative berth in a choked air. Imagine the toilets and salmonella looming, or fire hazard. God forbid, the building falls and the same senators and pietists will blame government for ignoring warnings.

    On former CBN chief Lamido Sanusi’s arguments, they have virtually lost their tongues. Sources say, in CBN, it is routine that you could be deployed either geographically or departmentally after five years. Does Dalhatu or Ndume know this? What crime did Lagos commit? Why the hysteria once Lagos is mentioned? Is it not still our commercial capital? All the bank headquarters are there. The payment and communications departments have been gradually moving. For instance, the bank was spending lots of money hiring cameras and staff to Lagos too often to perform functions. They decided it made sense to station staff and equipment in Lagos as well.

    Abuja was not moved to supplant Lagos but to reinforce it. As some others have noted, across the world, countries separate commercial and administrative capitals. For every Washington, give me New York; Beijing for Shanghai, New Delhi for Mumbai, still Ottawa for bustling Toronto, etc. Dalhatu asked why not cite commerce ministry in Aba or Kano. This is called reductive reasoning. CBN is not moving, only a part. As for FAAN, it was former aviation minister – the worst ever in memory anywhere to hold that office – who moved it to Abuja. No one cried when he, a nativist bigot, employed his whole clan as if it is Air Sirika and Tribe. We are inhaling the fart he left behind. FAAN is only going back to default position. Dalhatu says we are now online, so we should work from everywhere. He should have advocated that all should work from their villages, not offices. His neanderthal mind should learn from the west. If he were wise, he would extol the 1,500 hectares of farmland the president launched in his Jigawa State last year, and anticipate with glee the 5,000 hectares in the offing for the north. Is that moving food to the north, or a plan to feed all Nigerians?

    Ndume says CBN should scatter the staff across offices in Abuja. How did he become a lawmaker? Does he understand integrity of operations, and the cost of setting up offices for people across buildings and the danger of compromised confidentialities? He is called the Senate’s Chief whip but somebody needs actual whipping. He and Dalhatu are outlaws as mainstays.

    The only flaw in the CBN and FAAN points is that they have not explained in Naira terms how much it would cost or has cost them to remain in Abuja. That may not sway the royalists who have their children all over the CBN and other choice establishments in Abuja. Those who toil through school lose out job opportunities to the kids of royals who schooled abroad and waltz like princes into the offices. If we take the inventory of the staff, especially those in the managerial cadre of the CBN, we will understand where the likes of Ndume and Dalhatu are coming from. Over to crack reporters. Some have said you should have the right cash to land a job while most of them have the right blood. If you don’t have the right blood, you are bloodied. Novelist Cormac McCarthy daubs it the blood meridian.

    Royalty here refers to entitled politicians. Ndume threatened electoral backlash. Dalhatu boasted the north has numbers and land. That logic admits they have lost the argument.

    They have privatized the contention. The average northerner is only concerned with bread-and-butter matters. Moving FAAN or some patrician children from Abuja does not change the almajiri’s fortunes or horizon. But they are recruiting innocents for their own selfish reasons. It is the subject of Isabel Wilkerson sensational work titled, Caste: The Origins of our Discontent. These holy willies like Dalhatu do not speak to fine men in the north who have outlived this cranky conservatism. Time will tell. I have met many of them that southerners don’t write about.

    In the past, the Kaduna Mafia, as we called it, was subtle. It did not flaunt power in the days of Isa Keita. The late Isa Funtua told me that he was secretary to the so-called mafia and they had retreats lasting days and everyone came with their cars, no drivers, no PAs. Today, the ACF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, all advertise their parochialisms. We have passed the age of courtesy to an age of confrontation. They have embalmed a cult of hate. Buhari presented the worst of this class. Contrast IBB’s tenure with Buhari. Prominent names like Olagunju and Oyovbaire formed the core of his team. IBB was a despot, a smiling brute, but he tried, until he could not, to be as folksy. However, Ndume and co. are Buhari’s children. It is the consequence of the June 12 struggle. The bile burst out of the sore.

    The ACF is only grasping with hegemonic crisis. The north is not the monolith or monotone it used to be. The street is less a herd and more mercurial. “The old world is dying; the new world is struggling to be born…” wrote Gramsci, the philosopher of hegemony.

    But what is more important is for a few powerful people to understand that our unity is more important than the private fantasies of a few. For instance, a majority of NPA staff members  are from the north, but they are living in Lagos. Any complaints? Let the royals let the technocrats be.

  • Senate Presidency: Shettima backs Lawan

    Borno State Governors Kashim Shettima Monday threw his weight behind the candidature of Senator Ahmed Lawan as the President of the ninth Senate.

    Shettima who spoke to reporters in Abuja said that his decision to back the candidature of Lawan is line with the position of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The APC has already endorsed Lawan (Yobe North) as the party’s choice for the Senate President.

    Shettima insisted that the decision of the APC about who becomes the President of the ninth Senate must be respected as way to enforce party discipline and cohesion.

    The governors who said that it was not true that Borno elders were backing Senator Ali Ndume to emerge Senate President noted that as the first citizen of the state he made wide consultation before his decision to support Lawan.

    He said, “Thank you so much. I have very little to say. Ordinarily I am not even supposed to come here because there are three things to be combated.

    “I hail from the same state with the distinguished Senator Ali Ndume. And I appreciate the fact that politics is local. But politics is also national. And I believe the blood that binds us together supersedes whatever we might harbour.

    “But I fully aligned with the aspiration of my party, to the aspiration of President Muhammadu Buhari and by the grace of God; we are going to mobilize all our goodwill to see that we are fully on board.

    “We are for Senator Ahmad Lawan, we are for Femi Gbajabiamila and all other senators and other House of Representatives members endorsed by the party.

    “We are for party discipline that allowed everyone to aspire for political offices. We believe that we must respect the party. All of us won under platforms. There is no provision for independent candidate.

    “I don’t know whether anyone has won under an independent platform. Except maybe Senator-elect Ifeanyi Ubah who brought in an anonymous party and won.

    READ ALSO: Senate Presidency: Adeyeye urges APC to discuss with Ndume, Goje, others

    “So, I feel honored by the visit but honestly this visit is unwarranted. I am fully onboard. I am for Senator Ahmed Lawan for Senate president.

    “Well, I am the first citizen of the state; I have made wide consultations with our leaders from Borno before resolving to back Senator Ahmed Lawan.

    “And most importantly, let’s be brutally honest, Muhammadu Buhari is the single candidate in the country that most of us from the North won election by aligning with Muhammadu Buhari.

    “So, we have no basis to undermine him or to disrespect him. People like Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Sen Ifeanyi Ubah, Sen Francis Alimikhena won in spite of Buhari not because of Buhari.

    “But most of us from the North have no basis not to align ourselves with President Buhari and whoever he enforces.

    “He has endorsed some of the best hands we have in the system and where we hail from; Sen Ahmed Lawan is one of the best hands we have.

    “It is a reality. He has been in the National Assembly since 1999; he has the experience, exposure, pedigree, intellect to redefine the process. He is the best amongst equals.

    “He is level headed, calm, matured and we need such quality of leadership to drive the 9th Senate.

    “We, the people of Borno, the elected representatives of the people of Borno and we are the representatives of the people. “We are not at war with Senator Ali Ndume, he is my kinsman but we will continue to prevail on him to align himself with the aspiration of the party. We are not at war. We belong to the same paternity.”

  • APC: why we picked Lawan for Senate President

    After picking Senator Ahmed Lawan for Senate President, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is working out a zoning formula for other positions, the party said yesterday.

    The APC said it settled for Ahmed Lawan for Senate President after wide consultations with the President and other leaders of the party, considering all options available.

    The party also said the stand of the party not to share power in the National Assembly with the PDP was borne out of the fact that it has a clear majority and does not need the PDP to run a successful government.

    APC’s National Publicity Secretary Lanre Issa-Onilu told reporters in Abuja that having settled for Lawan as Senate President, the party was working out an acceptable zoning formula for all other positions in the Senate and House of Representatives, including Speaker.

    The formula will be announced within the shortest possible time, he added.

    Issa-Onilu said the party will not allow what happened in 2015 to repeat itself, adding that what the leadership of the Eight Senate did was treachery and not democracy. All members with ambition are expected to situate such ambition within the larger interest of the party and the nation, he said.

    Lawan’s choice was based on a wide consultation with senators-elect, governors, members of the National Working Committee, leaders of the party across the country and the President. It was presented to the senators and other stakeholders during its meeting at the Villa.

    The party, according to Isaa-Onilu, does not hope to see any formal election of principal officers when the Assembly is inaugurated as the party hopes to have concluded its plan to present to members acceptable candidates on a consensus basis.

    Issa-Onilu said the party considered allowing the zones to choose who should occupy the positions that will be zoned to them. “That is also an option because there is nothing that says that has to be the only option. It is one of the several options. You also know that before you arrive on an individual, we must have considered what zone he comes from,” he said, adding: “So, the party, in its own judgement, believes that we will not only zone, but go as far as to decide who from that zone is fit and proper as the Senate President.

    “You should know that from every zone, we have ranking members in the National Assembly who are eminently qualified to be Senate president. But there is only one vacancy to be filled because we don’t have two Senate presidents. In this case, considering other factors, the party took a decision.

    “When I say the party, not just the NWC, because there was a wide consultation across the country; the party leaders, governors and the President and so, it is not just Adams Oshiomhole or the NWC. That is the position of the ruling party.  So, the idea of taking the thing to the zones is an option which we have also considered before arriving at a particular individual from the  Northeast, only after we have zoned that position to the Northeast.”

    The APC spokesman insisted that the statement by the party’s National Chairman that it will not share positions with the PDP was not a threat as the country practices a presidential system of government where the winner takes all.

    He said: “It was not a threat. That is democracy. I have listened to PDP react to this and in their usual style, they exhibited crass ignorance. What we practise in Nigeria is the Presidential system of government and in a presidential system of government, it is winner takes all. Once you win, you take whatever you want. There is no room for power sharing.

    “We don’t need it because we don’t need them to run this government. We have enough members to run this government. In any case, when we were campaigning, we never told Nigerians that we were going to share power with any other party. We told them to entrust power on us fully because in the last four years, we have made good use of power and we will make better use of it in the next four years.

    “Nigerians graciously assented to that. It will be a betrayal of that trust to go ahead and start sharing power with a party, particularly the PDP that has been rejected by Nigerians.

    “We are smarting from the experience of the last four years, precisely what happened in 2015 when some traitors within the APC fold sold our birthright to an opposition party and some people now considered that as the normal thing. That action was not democratic. It was treachery and we thank God that Nigerians punished the people that were involved.

    “They have been rejected with many of them now on compulsory retirement from politics. That is the verdict of the people of this country for compromising basic democratic principles, which say that when you have majority, you have the trust of the people to form a government without conceding anything to the people they have rejected. If they had wanted PDP, they would have voted for them.

    “We pattern our presidential system along side that of the United States of America. When last did you see to the floor to elect Senate President. In their own case, the Speaker?  Any party that has the majority automatically has the Speaker.

    “What we had in the last one year when those traitors defected back to where they belong was an aberration and not democratic. It is an expression of lack of value and a commitment to personal aggrandisement and not a commitment to national interest. We should not think that it has now become the new normal. If we truly wants to practise democracy, we should consign such to the dustbin of history and never allow such to happen.

    “The problem we have had with party politics in this country is the fact that no ideology drives any political party. But APC is daring to be different. What that means is that we are progressives and the worldview of progressives includes the ideology that speaks to those values that are very important to the common people.

    “That is why most of the policies of this government has been pro-poor policies. All the social investment programmes were patterned along the world view of progressives.”

    Speaking on members who might have ambition, Issa-Onilu said: “You must know that party discipline is collateral to party supremacy. So when you begin to have interest other than the collective  of the party that present you for an election, then you are voluntering excusing yourself from that fold of that party.

    “So, what we expect of any member who has interest in anything is to work within the party structures to ensure he achieves his interest. But he may not succeed if that interest is at variance with the world view that this party shares. So, as we go to the next Senate, how it is done will be the way it will be done.

    “You have principal officers and all of them are determined by simple majority and because Nigerians have given us more than enough, we have enough to elect all our officers. We don’t need a single vote from PDP. In any case, we don’t envisage any election on that day because we are going to present our members to occupy these positions as the collective position of the party and all our members are experienced politicians who understand what this means.

    “When they get to the floor, they are going to read out the names and if the PDP so desires, they can bring a candidate up and follow that candidate with the number they have. It will be an exercise in futility for them to want to share from what Nigerians have taken from them. There are positions for minority party and the APC will not contest those position because it belongs to them.”

    He said Senator Ali Ndume’s protest against the decision of the party to adopt Lawan as the sole candidate for the position of Senate presidency was his fundamental right, adding that he must have been hit badly by the news of Lawan’s adoption.

    Onilu said: “He is only expressing his fundamental rights. But those rights were taken care on that very day you subscribed to be a member of a particular political party, in this case, the APC. That day, he signed up to abide by the position of the APC. We take what happened in the last 24 hours as how badly the news hit him.

    “He is  a human being and we are also conscious of the fact that Senator Ali Ndume is a respected member of APC, a leader in this party and he knows the right thing to do and on both sides, the right thing will be done. That also includes other members who have the same issues, but at the end of the day, party supremacy will have to take precedence. The party will also to conscious not to be found wanting and not to be seen to be breaking its own rules.

    “What happened in the national Assembly when APC members kept the national budget for seven months is a betrayal of the party  on which platform they were elected and also a betrayal of the trust of the people of this country and Nigerians have passed a verdict on them.”

    Read also: Senate president: Buhari, APC leaders pacify Goje

    He said that at the consultative meeting with Senators-elect, governors, the National Working Committee and the President, it was presented to stakeholders that the party intends to present Senator Ahmed Lawan as the next Senate President, adding that since that came out, the party has not contradicted itself.

    He said the zoning arrangement for all other positions was in the works. Just as Nigerians have been informed about our preferred candidate for the Senate position is, we will also tell the world what the zoning formula is for all other positions both in the Senate and House of Representatives. That will be done very shortly.

    On the mode of selecting the leadership, he said “It is not the party that will determine whether there will be election or not, and that’s what I said but by the time we announce one person standing in with a clear majority on the floor and anybody who says  that I object to that then that person has to come up with a candidate and back it with his number.

    “So there will be only one person being put forward and what do you have, a consensus. Even if there is going to be an election, it is going to be an exercise in fulfilling all righteousness. That’s what I am referring to. We don’t envisage a situation where two APC senators will stand as candidates for a position. And that is if the APC has not done his homework. That is the essence of the majority we have and that is the practice in a proper presidential system of government.”

  • Ndume laments heightened humanitarian crisis in North East

    Ndume laments heightened humanitarian crisis in North East

    Former Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, Saturday, described the humanitarian crisis in the North East region as one of the worst in the world.

    Ndume who spoke on the historic signing into law of North East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill by President Muhammadu Buhari, noted that Act will no doubt address massive underdevelopment in the region.

    He added that the Act would go a long way assist stakeholders to rebuild area destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents.

    Ndume also revealed how he spearheaded the drafting of the bill and mobilised lawmakers from the Senate and the House of Representatives from the North East to support the Bill.

    He said that when fully functional, NEDC will bridge the huge development gap in the Nort East region of the country.

    He noted that although his effort pushing the Bill may not be acknowledged by some vested interests, the records are there to prove that the commission was his brainchild.

    The signing of the Bill, he said, was timely to address the unhealthy situation in the North East.

    Ndume said: “I thank God and I feel excited. By signing the bill, the President made my day. I am really happy. This is a milestone in the history of my sojourn in the National Assembly. This is the first bill I initiated that got the support of all my colleagues. It was co-sponsored by my colleagues from the North East.

    “The humanitarian crisis in the North East is enormous. I feel accomplished. We have done something that will help our people.

    “Niger Delta case is different. The challenge was that of environmental degradation. It was a case of negligence. It was a case of addressing those challenges. The case of NEDC is different. We did not want this naturally. Disaster happened and we needed help. It was because of the disaster that I sponsored the bill.

    “The North East is one of the poorest regions on earth. With this coming of NEDC, the issues will be addressed. North East Development Commission has come into existence with the signing of the bill into law. How it will be funded is a different thing.

    “The problem the Presidential Initiative on North East had was that it was not an institution. But the NEDC is a creation of the law. This will not be managed by one man. The agency will be well structured. This institution is set up to address humanitarian crisis. It cannot compromise. It is very sensitive.”

    On the role he played to push the Bill Ndume said: “I did not coordinate the Bill to be appreciated. But I am not bothered. The records are there. Nobody can change that. I spearheaded it. I convened the caucus of North East of both chambers. I was the first person to do that. You know the role I played. The whole country knows. If one person decides to ignore my role, God knows and Nigerians know.”

  • My most critical moment as Chief Judge – Justice Auta

    My most critical moment as Chief Judge – Justice Auta

    • CJN, Gov Shetima, Senator Ndume, others hail ex-Federal High Court Chief Judge

    The immediate past Chief Judge of the Federal High Court (FHC), Justice Ibrahim Auta has taken a retrospective look at his over six-year tenure and recalled d his most critical period while in office.

    Auta said the period preceding the 2015 general elections was the most critical in his career because he was worried about the negative consequences of a decision by any judge of the court on the electoral process.

    He spoke in Abuja on Sunday at a dinner held in his honour by members of the Southern Borno Community in Abuja.

    Justice Auta said: “My critical moment was the 2015 election. When it came, I said, God help me. Because, as the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, there are divisions of the court in all the 36 states, with about 80 judges and I am here in Abuja.

    “A judge may do something in Bayelsa, in Sokoto or in Maiduguri, they will say the Chief Judge is aware. But I have no way of knowing what all the judges are doing, but the buck stops on my table. When 2015 came, they started with the registration of parties. That was when I started seeing the danger line.

    “I prayed to God to give me the wisdom to steer the ship of the court so that we will go through this election period without any bloodshed, which will be attributable to any action of the Federal High Court.

    “Then suddenly, the cases started coming out, asking for the disqualification of this, the disqualification of that. And I know then that if we had disqualified anybody there would be bloodshed, serious bloodshed because parties would not take it

    “And we made up our mind to see that to see that we did not disqualify anybody, and 2015 came and passed without any hiccups. God did it for us, and I am always thanking God for that.  We had a successful election without any blame put on the Federal High Court.

    “I remember that around that time, one of the foreign embassies said Nigeria was going to disintegrate in 2015. They said it would be as a result of judgments or rulings that would come from the Federal High Court, but we vindicated ourselves.

    “It is God, and not by our wisdom. That was my most challenging period. And God saw us through. I give God the glory. I also thank my colleagues for their support, because if they did not cooperate with me, we would not have been successful.

    “So, I give kudos to the judges of the Federal High Court for seeing Nigeria through. And now, we have a government in place in the country,” Justice Auta said.

    Other speakers are the event, including Borno State Governor, Kashim Shetima, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and Senator Mohammed Ndume, extolled Justice Auta’s virtues, with many describing him among others, as a courageous man, who sticks to the truth no matter whose ox is gored.

    Represented by a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Clara Bata-Ogunbiyi, Justice Onnoghen said: “Justice Auta is truly a Nigerian; a man of courage, a man of character and a man that is fearless. No matter whose ox is gored, my lord will always stand by the truth.”

    The CJN said the Judiciary was already missing Justice Auta’s contributions, but added that the retired jurist deserved a befitting rest having worked tirelessly for the country.

    Borno State Governor, Kashim Shetima described him as a worthy son of the state, who discharged his responsibilities diligently and devoted his working life to the development of the nation’s Judiciary.

    Represented by the state’s Deputy Governor, Usman Durkwa, Shetima said: “Justice Ibrahim Auta is a man of uncommon integrity. We congratulate him for a meritorious service to his fatherland and wish him a happy retirement. The people and government of Borno are proud of you.”

    A member of the event’s organising committee and serving Senator, representing Borno South Senatorial District, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume said the event was to celebrate a worthy indigene of Borno State, who is a mentor to most of the indigenes of the state.

    Ndume said: “Justice Auta is a true rare model to us. He encouraged most of us in various fields and was instrumental to what many of us are today. You are a symbol of what we are and you have actually set a benchmark for us.

    The Chairman, of the event’s organising committee, Ambassador Dauda Danladi, equally hailed Justice Auta, who he noted, put in almost 40 years of glorious and impeccable service to the nation.

    Danladi said: “At a time when public officers are faced with great challenges and temptation, I could rightly be said that it is easy for the camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a public servant to retire peacefully and unblemished.

    “We are therefore proud to say that Justice Ibrahim Ndahi Auta has retired with his integrity intact, untainted and incorruptible. Throughout his glorious career as a jurist, he is known for his incisive, bold legal mind, forthrightness and for dispensing justice without any fear or favour, affection or ill will,” Danladi said.

  • Alleged link with Boko Haram: Court frees Ndume

    Alleged link with Boko Haram: Court frees Ndume

    About six years into his trial, a Federal High Court in Abuja has freed Senator Ali Ndume (All Progressives Congress, Borno State) of terrorism related charges brought against him in 2011 by the Goodluck Jonathan government.

    In a ruling this afternoon, Justice Gabriel Kolawole upheld Ndume’s no-case submission and proceeded to discharge and acquit him.

    The judge said the prosecution failed, through evidence led, to link the defendant (Ndume) to the offences alleged, to warrant his being called to enter defence.

    Justice Kolawole noted that although Ndume admitted volunteering information to the Department of State Services (DSS), the Police and other security agencies, no representatives of any of the agencies were called as witness by the prosecution.

    Ndume was charged with among others, withholding information about the operations of Boko Haram and having link and communicating with some of its leaders.

    The defendant had, in his no-case submission, claimed to have been involved in negotiation with Boko Haram leaders at the instance of the then Federal Government led by President Jonathan.

    He said former Vice President and the Director General of the DSS during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration were aware of his interactions with a Boko Haram member, Ali Konduga.

    He said his link with Konduga, who has since been convicted on terrorism related charges, was at the behest of the presidential committee set up under the Jonathan government to help address security challenges in the North-East part of the country.

    The Senator was arraigned on December 12, 2011 on a four-count charge relating to terrorism charges. He was accused of, among other counts, sponsoring the Boko Haram sect, maintaining a link with the sect member and failing to disclose the phone number of Konduga, which was alleged to be in his (Ndume’s) possession.

    The prosecution commenced trial on July 3, 2012 and closed its case on June 22, 2016, after calling nine witnesses, following which Ndume opted for a no-case submission.

    Ndume’s lawyer, Rickey Tarfa (SAN) had, while adopting his no-case submission on June 6 this year, urged the court to discharge and acquit his client on the ground that the prosecution was unable to establish a prima facie case against the defendant.

    Tarfa said the prosecution was unable to lead sufficient evidence link his client with the offences alleged.

    He said Ndume’s contact with Boko Haram came about when the senator was a member of the Presidential Committee on Security Matters in the North-East of the country.

    Reacting to the court’s decision, Ndume dressed in white robe (agbada and white cap) thank God for spearing his life to witness his acquittal.

    “I thank God for spearing my life. Many Senators, who have cases against them have died, but here I am and well. I am grateful to God,” he said.

  • Suspension: Why I won’t apologise- Ndume

    Suspension: Why I won’t apologise- Ndume

    Suspended former Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, has ruled out tendering unreserved apology in order for him to be recalled.

    He told reporters after an interactive session with of his constituents in Abuja on Sunday that there was no basis to ask him to apologise since he did not do any thing to warrant his suspension in the first place.
    He was handed six months suspension on March 29, 2017 over allegation that he breached Senate rules by drawing attention of the upper chamber to allegation of purchase of exotic car for the Senate President with forged customs papers and the certificate scandal against Senator Dino Melaye.
    The Senate specifically blamed him for not “conducting due diligence” before bringing the matter to the floor.
    The Borno South senator however said that though he is not averse to tendering apology where there is need to do so, there was nothing for him to apologise for.
    He insisted that he did not offend the standing rules of the Senate.
    The leadership of the upper chamber was reported last week to have asked Ndume to apologise to pave the way for his recall.
    Ndume said, “The move for apology was made but I did not do any thing to warrant an apology. I have no problem with apology but you have to apologise for something you did.
    “The issues I raised were put to rest after I raised them. The issue of importation of car was put to rest. The certificate issue was also put to rest. It was because I raised the issues. Perhaps if I did not raise them, the issues may have lingered.
    “I did not do any thing so there is no basis for me to tender any apology.”
    Ndume also said that the resolution to investigate the issues was not his but a Senate resolution.
    He added, “The whole thing will come and go. It will pass away. It is part of the challenge a politician go through. My challenge in the Senate now is temporary. It should not stop me from do what have been doing for my constituents. It is very temporary.
    “I take my suspension in good faith. It will pass away. I am lucky to be in the Senate. Right now I am going through industrial attachment because one day I will leave the Senate. I don’t expect to die in the Senate.”
    Ndume also appealed to the Federal Government not to yield to the pressure to evict Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from their Area One Camp in Abuja.
    He said that he would take up the planned eviction of IDPs from their Area One Camp with the Minister of Internal Affairs to stop the plan.
    He said that IDPs are not sent packing without providing them a place of abode.
    Ndume who said that they have 12 IDP camps scattered in Abuja, asked the government to take up the issue of security at the camps especially at the Area One Camp.

  • Melaye graduated from ABU – VC insists

    Melaye graduated from ABU – VC insists

    The Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Ibrahim Garba, on Monday reconfirmed that Senator Dino Melaye earned a degree in Geography from the Faculty of Arts in the year 2000.

    On the investigation of the certificate forgery against Melaye, the Vice Chancellor, who also appeared before the Senate Ethics committee told the committee that Melaye graduated from the institution as Daniel Jonah Melaye with a 3rd class degree in Geography.

    The VC noted that Melaye graduated and did his one year compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) between 2000 and 2001 in Kaduna State.

    Vice-chancellor said: “From the records, I know Sen. Dino Melaye, who was formerly known as Jonah Daniel Melaye as a former student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and I know him to be the distinguished senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “From the records of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Distinguished Senator Dino Melaye who was at that time named Daniel Jonah Melaye graduate with a third class degree of the Bachelors of Art in Geography in the year 2000. And by this, he is a graduate of the university.

    “In my honour, I reaffirm that Sen. Dino Melaye graduated as Daniel  Jonah Melaye during the third semester  of the 1998/1999 academic session with a 3rd Class Degree in Geography, that is Bachelors of Arts in Geography.”

    Melaye had in his testimony said, “I thank you for the invitation and I want to state my unequivocal confidence in this committee to do justice to this matter.

    “I have few documents I would also want to tender to the committee and before I do that I also want to state with every sense of responsibility that I am a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

    “I gained admission with an offer of admission on the 6th of September, 1994 and the admission is to study Bachelor of Arts Geography and a copy of that admission letter will be tendered.

    “I also have a second document to tender, my acceptance offer by the university. I also have the third document to tender which is my result from the Ahmadu Bello University certifying me a graduate of the school.

    “I also have here a document for my registration that I tendered where I have C5 in CRS, A3 in Agric, C6 in Economics, C6 in Geography, C6 in Biology and a credit in English.

    “I will also tender that as evidence. I also want to tender that after my graduation from the Ahmadu Bello University, the school sent my name to the NYSC for the mandatory Service and I participated in the one year NYSC.

    “I served in Police College Kaduna and by the grace of God, that year I won the National Prize of the DG and it is on record and verifiable and I beg to tender my discharge certificate from NYSC,’’ he said.

    “My name as an undergraduate was Daniel Jonah Melaye. Jonah is actually my father’s name, so that is what I have on my university certificate.

    “But because I am now popularly known as Dino I applied to the court and asked that I needed an affidavit for change of name before my admission and I submitted it to ABU.

    “I will tender my Identity cards and I came here with a copy of my final year project duly signed by my head of the department in the Faculty of Arts as it was then called.”

    Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume
    Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume

    When the committee proceedings began, Senator Ali Ndume, who raised the issue was not at the hearing room.

    Clerk of the committee, Freedom Osolo, told the committee that Ndume could not be reached.

    Osolo noted that phone calls made to Ndume’s phone were not answered.

    When Ndume eventually came around he was questioned why he decided to raise the issue.

    Ndume told the committee that he did not write any petition, but only raised a point of order to draw the attention of the Senate to a newspaper publication.

    He said: “I did not petition. I only raised a point of order. That is Order 14 and 15. That is, when an issue about a lawmaker comes up, we have the right to bring it up. I made a request. The decision to bring this case before this committee is not my doing. It was the decision of the Senate. I did not expect that it will generate this kind of attention.

    “I came here with my own certificate. I was here when the Vice Chancellor said that Melaye graduated from the school in 1999. I do not know how you can graduate in 2000 but went for your NYSC in 1999. I do not understand.”

    NYSCAnyanwu corrected Ndume. He said the Vice Chancellor had already cleared the air on when Melaye graduated. He said contrary to Ndume’s claims, Melaye’s NYSC discharge certificate shows that he underwent the compulsory one-year national programme in 2000, after his graduation.

    Anyanwu retorted on another point raised by Ndume and said: “You said you did not write any petition, but only raised a point of order. Did you as a Senator do any due diligence before you brought the case before the Senate?”

    Ndume, again reacted: “That is not my job. That is the job of the committee. I only raised a point of order. I am not Punch Newspaper and I did not write this report.”

    Senator Peter Nwaoboshi stepped in at this time and added his voice. He said: “When you make such a serious allegation, you must back it up. Let me read the discharge certificate of his NYSC to you. That is the certificate.”

    Not ready to cave in, Ndume maintained: “I raised a point of order and it was referred to this committee. You have shown me the certificate and it has resolved the problem. It is not personal. If there is anything against the integrity of the Senate, it is our duty to clear it. What is the big deal?

    Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Na’Allah, who doubles as vice chairman of the Ethics committee explained more: “It is not about the procedure or the contents of the complaints. You are aware that you are a former Leader of the Senate. You are aware that the public, having formed an opinion, based on what you presented, that we clear this whole thing? I am sure we have cleared your mind since you have seen the discharge certificate. What will be your conclusion when you leave here?

    Ndume reacted: “Let me add that I called the attention of the Senate because I feel it is my responsibility to do that. I did not do it in isolation. It has happened before. It cannot be swept under the carpet. He has presented everything. What more do I have to say? What I did was to protect the integrity of the Senate.”

    Ndume left the hearing room at about 2.44pm.