LESS than 48 hours after his sack as the Senate chief whip, Ali Ndume has rejected his new appointment as Chairman Senate Committee on Tourism.
Responding to his removal as the chief whip of the Senate on Wednesday, July 18, Ndume defended his utterances that resulted in his removal and expressed no regrets.
The lawmaker said while fielding questions from reporters on Friday, July 19 in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
He said he had no knowledge of tourism offered him by the Senate leadership under its president, Godswill Akpabio, adding that he was not desperate to hold any position in the Senate.
“I was begged to accept the position of Chief whip knowing fully well that I led the campaign for Akpabio’s emergence as the Senate president and I was begged to choose the committee I wanted and I chose vice chairman appropriation committee. I am not desperate.
“I learnt that I was given the chairman of tourism committee; nobody wrote to me, but I want to state here clearly that I decline this offer for two reasons; I am not a tourist so I am not interested in accepting the chairman of tourism. I am not knowledgeable about tourism,” Ndume stated.
Ndume reiterated that Nigerians were hungry and angry. He requested that President Bola Tinubu look into the concerns he raised earlier.
The lawmaker argued that he did nothing wrong by telling the President the truth.
“I know I am not wrong; the people are not wrong by speaking the truth and by standing by the truth. I expect the President who I believe that the report has gotten to him to look into what I have said and take appropriate measures to alleviate the suffering.
“People are not happy, people are suffering and angry. Leaders in this country need to take a review; they should get back to me to tell me whether I said anything that is not true or is wrong. It is God that gave me that position and it is God that took it, so I bear no grudge against anyone. After all, I didn’t contest to be the chief whip, I didn’t contest to be the vice chairman appropriation committee, I contested to be the Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Ndume added.
The ICIR reported on Thursday that the Senate sacked Ndume as the chief whip following his criticism of Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The upper legislative chamber consequently replaced him with another senator, Tahir Monguno.
Before his sack, the national secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashir Ajibola, and the national chairman, Umar Ganduje, had in a letter sought Ndume’s removal.
The Senate President, Akpabio, put the request to a voice vote, and all of the APC senators responded in favour of his removal.
Ndume was accused by the APC of harmful remarks directed at Tinubu’s administration.
He repeated the claim in an interview with Arise TV on July 12, where he alleged that former President Muhammadu Buhari was a more accessible leader.
Ndume accused Tinubu’s aides of “shielding and fencing in” their principal from lawmakers and ministers.
The ICIR reported that Ndume accused Tinubu of being out of touch with some of the issues plaguing the country, including food crisis and insecurity.
A reporter with the ICIR
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