Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South has been removed as Senate Leader as serious indications emerged on Tuesday, January 10, that the in-houses crises in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a new turn.
APC lawmakers have removed Ali Ndume as Senate leader and presented Ahmed Lawan as the new man for the position.
The APC caucus in a letter which was transmitted to the Senate on Tuesday forwarded the name of Senator Ahmed Lawan of Yobe North as the new Senate leader.
The letter was read by Senate President Bukola Saraki.
READ ALSO: Senate summons Fashola, Amaechi, Sirika over Abuja airport closure
According to the APC caucus, the decision was arrived at during the party’s caucus meeting on Monday, January 9.
However, Ali Ndume has rejected his removal as Senate Majority leader by the APC senate caucus.
“I still remain Senate Leader, ” Ndume claimed during a press briefing with National Assembly correspondents on Tuesday.
He added that he was not aware of his removal by the APC Senate Caucus because he had no knowledge of when the decision to remove him was taken.
READ ALSO: Senate rejects Buhari’s nominee for NERC chairmanship Prof Akintunde
Analysts believe Ndume’s removal is bound to cause crisis in the Senate since the lawmaker will not go down without a fight.
Ali Ndume was a member of the Federal House of Representatives from 2003 to 2011 representing Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives on the platform of ANPP.
He was unanimously elected minority leader in the lower house’s 6th Assembly in 2007.
In December 2010, barely 100 days to 2011 elections Ndume decamped to the PDP and as a result of this, the PDP re-opened the sale of nomination forms for the senate and Alhaji Sanda Garba, the only aspirant, stepped down for him.
However, he later teamed up with the new PDP (nPDP) along with 20 of his colleagues in what eventually became known today as the APC.
In 2015 election, he was re-elected and became the Leader of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 8th Assembly.
