Barring any last minute changes, the Senate, will on Tuesday, resume after its two months annual recess, where it is expected to consider and resolve pending issues.
Among the thorny issues expected to be on the front burner, is the reinstatement of Mohammed Ali Ndume as the Chief Whip of the Senate and Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Reliable sources in the Senate revealed that the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has already written to its caucus in the Senate, asking it to reinstate Ndume as the Chief Whip of the Senate and Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Though the letter couldn’t be seen as at the time of filing in this report, it was gathered that the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, is expected to read the letter, possibly on Tuesday.
Ndume, a ranking senator who has spent 21 years in the National Assembly, was demoted and punished in July for criticising President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The development caused a silent resistance and revolution in the various caucuses of the Senate, where members said they can no longer grant press interviews, or comment on critical national issues without risking sanctions or a suspension from the leadership of the Senate.
Ndume served as the Leader of the 8th Senate. He was the Director-General of the campaign of Godswill Akpabio when he ran for the position of the President of the Senate. He was initially positioned to emerge as the Leader of the Senate. A last-minute intervention by the Presidency denied him the seat. He was compensated with the Chief Whip position.
The APC, in July filed a complaint to Akpabio, against Ndume, over his utterances against the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In the letter addressed to Akpabio and read on the floor of the Senate, the national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, and the national secretary, Bashir Ajibola, called on Ndume to resign his membership of APC, since he continues to attack the administration of President Tinubu.
In the letter, the national leadership of the APC asked the ruling party in the Senate to replace Ndume with Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno as the new Chief Whip of the Senate. Mongonu hails from Borno.
Monguno represents the Vice President Kashim Shettima, and he’s his close ally, who until his elevation, headed the Judiciary Committee.
The request by the party was granted, and Ndume was immediately replaced through a voice vote, presided over by Akpabio. Ndume was not in the chamber when his removal was announced by Akpabio.
In the letter, the APC said Ndume’s utterances were affecting foreign-direct investments into the country, and turning Nigerians against the administration of President Tinubu, “who is working hard to fix the problems he inherited.”
It said the party can no longer sit back and allow Ndume to set the country on fire with his careless utterances. It said Ndume claimed that the administration of Tinubu is populated by thieves.
A few weeks later, the leadership of the party summoned Ndume, where the thorny issues were resolved.
If Ndume is reinstated, he will be the first sacked Chief Whip to be recalled since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999.
