Ndume Breaks Silence On Removal As Senate Chief Whip, Rejects Akpabio’s Appointment

By Doris Isreal Ijeoma The Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume, has spoken publicly for the first time following his sack as the Chief Whip of the Senate in the 10th Assembly. The outspoken lawmaker, who spoke in his country home of Maiduguri on Friday, said he was unfairly treated, and his actions do not warrant his removal from the position. He also rejected the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Tourism, which was announced by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday, arguing that he lacks the experience and exposure to lead such a sensitive group. Ndume added that he never wanted to be a senate whip after serving as the leader in the eighth senate, disclosing that he was given the chance to choose which committee to serve as the vice chairman, having successfully led the campaigns that brought about the emergence of Godwill Akpabio as president of the Senate. On the recommendation of the party to leave the APC, Ndume said he is a founding member of the party. He explained that he was one of the twenty-two senators from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that formed the APC when the current national chairman of the party Abdullahi Ganduje was a deputy governor in Kano State. He, however, stated that when former President Muhammadu Buhari, in the company of President Bola Tinubu, ordered him to sign a document to join APC at the Imo House in Abuja, he informed his people before going public as such, he would consult his people before deciding on whether to leave the APC or not.

Senate Debunks Impeachment Plot Against Akpabio

The Senate has media refuted reports that some Senators are planning to impeach President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio. The Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu said this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday. “Our attention has just been drawn to a syndicated satanic verse in a section of the media of purported and illusory plots of leadership change in the Senate. “The Nigerian Senate is one united and fraternal family and this imaginative composition is in the realm of the fake and fallacious story of 100 million per legislator. “It is apt to note that the10th Senate under the leadership of Senator Godswill Akpabio has carried out its legislative and constitutional duties diligently. “Within a span of less than 60 Legislative days, the Senate has passed life enhancing bills and motions,” he said. He added: “It has screened and confirmed Service Chiefs and Ministers, among others, apart from very essential oversight functions. “We urge the fifth columnists, who operate undoubtedly outside the Senate, desperate to cause disharmony through media stunts and thus clipping the wings of Nigeria’s democracy, to take caution. “The Senate should be allowed fresh air to settle down for its national assignments, so that the Nigerian project can move forward.” He urged the media to be discerning not to be used as hand tool by the retailers of fake and bad news.

Akpabio appoints chief of staff, deputy

President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has appointed Sylvester Okonkwo as his Chief of Staff and Saviour Enyiekere as the Deputy Chief of Staff. The appointments were contained in a statement on Monday by the media department of the office of the Senate President. They are the first appointments Mr Akpabio will make since he was elected on 13 June. Mr Okonkwo attended Dennìs Memorial Grammar School Onitsha, and he is also an alumnus of the University of Nigeria, Enugu campus, where he bagged a Bachelor’s Degree in Law. He hails from Ojoto in Idemili South LGA of Anambra State, South-east Nigeria. He is a corporate lawyer and an astute politician spanning over two decades. He was a senatorial aspirant on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform in 2019. Until his appointment, Mr Okonkwo was the CEO of Chinto Technologies Limited, an ICT and telecommunications outfit. Mr Enyiekere on the other hand, hails from the Ika Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He is an alumnus of the University of Calabar and the Deputy Director General of the Godswill Akpabio Senatorial Campaign Organisation. He is a former two-term executive chairman of Ika LGA, former senior special assistant to the Akwa Ibom State Government on Boundaries and Conflict Resolutions, former board member of Akwa Ibom State Road Maintenance Agency, former student leader and former senatorial aspirant, Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. He is a member of the Nigerian Environmental Society, a Fellow Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria and a professional fellow of the Emergency Crisis, Risk and Safety Management Institute of Nigeria. The appointments are the first Senator Godswill Akpabio has made since his election as Senate President.