A former Senate Leader, Ali
Ndume, has said National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adams
Oshiomhole, told him that the party only recommended Senator Ahmad Lawan as the
preferred choice for the office of Senate President and had not imposed him on
the senators.
The Senator said this at a press
briefing in Lagos yesterday.
Ndume said while no APC leader
had asked him to withdraw for Senator Lawan, he was confident his dream of
becoming the Senate President of the ninth National Assembly would come to
pass.
The ranking Senator, who said he
was not in the race to bargain for juicy position, maintained: “We have 109
senators and each of them have one vote. If you are contesting to be the Senate
President, you have to reach out. But at the beginning, I was cautious because
I am a party man. So, when the party said ‘don’t go there,’ I did not.
“But the party came out again and
said, ‘You can reach out to them now,’ so I reached out to them.
“So far, the response I am
getting from my colleagues from the APC and other parties is very encouraging.
I am in this race to win; I am talking to everybody. I have the telephone
numbers of all the 109 senators-elect and I call them.
“I have written the party,
indicating my intention to contest. Even my national chairman, Adams
Oshiomhole, publicly said they only recommended Lawan and not that they are
stopping anybody.
“As I speak with you, nobody has
consulted me to say ‘don’t run for Senate President’. Everybody has the
constitutional right to do that.”
Ndume, who represents Borno South
in the Senate, promised to improve upon the performance of the Eighth Senate.
He promised to make the Office of
the Senate President less attractive by reducing the unnecessary privileges
attached to the office.
While promising to uphold the
independence of the legislative arm of government, the third- time Senator
promised to “work harmoniously and inter-dependently with the executive without
undermining the principle of separation of power.”
The lawmaker said the North-East
deserved an articulate representative as Senate President, adding that the
region had suffered huge devastation with property worth over N2tn destroyed by
insurgents.
Ndume, who said if given the
opportunity, he would not compromise the independence of the legislature, added
that his chances of becoming the next Senate President were bright.
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