Senator Ali Ndume was suspended by the upper legislative
chamber of the National Assembly in March, following the adoption of a report
submitted by the Senate committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions.......
Having served out his suspension, Ndume resumed on Tuesday,
14th November 14, 2017. In this interview, the immediate-past Senate Leader
spoke on what he termed his unconstitutional suspension, his time outside the
Senate and other salient issues.
What is your reaction to the court ruling concerning your
suspension, which was in your favour?
I am just from the court and I thank God that the court has
declared my suspension unconstitutional, illegal and null and void. That was
what I approached the court for. That is, a declaratory judgment and I got that
judgment. So that nullifies my suspension which I hitherto or ab initio
said was illegal. First of all, there
was no cause for me to be suspended because I did not do anything that would
have warranted my suspension in the first place.
And secondly, the senate does not have the right so suspend
a member for more than two weeks. That is what our rules say. So, where they
got the power to suspend me for six months was what I approached the court to
seek declaration and the court has so declared that it was not right and it was
illegal. Even though I have already spent out my illegal suspension time, I did
that not because of my person but because of the institution. I did that so
that individuals cannot just do what they like because they are elected one
among equals to lead the institution.
I also thank God that I am alive to have seen it because as
I said several times, so many members lost their seats. A member died in the
senate, two or three members died in the House of Representatives and I am not
better than them in any way. It could have been me. So this power or this seat
is just a transient thing. So I thank God for that and for me to be able to see that judgment too. This
is not victory for myself, it is not personal, it is not that I am trying to
prove anything, no. But I am saying that as someone who has been in this
democratic institution for over 14 years now, it behooves on me when things
like this happen to try to see that things are done correctly and I hope that
my colleagues who have done that will equally see the wisdom in the judgment.
It is not a victory or anything, no, it is just strengthening democracy and
doing what is right.
What if they appeal?
Well, I do not think so and I do not hope so, but I will not
be surprised. I look at it as it is. My suspension was not right in the first
place. I did not do anything to warrant my suspension. But if it is
vindictiveness or vengeance, then appeal on declaratory judgment will not prove
that that was vindictiveness. Otherwise, something that you are supposed to do,
that was what the court says and it is a declaratory judgment. The court has
said that the senate has no right to do what it did. So if they appeal, I will
not be surprised, but I would be disappointed.
Does that mean you will be resuming?
Yes, in fact the senate has written me that I am supposed to
resume on the 15th. I got the letter from the clerk telling me that my
suspension was over on the 14th and that I should resume on the 15th.
How do you hope to reply to that letter? By the judgment,
that means you were never on suspension.
As I said, what has happened has happened, I cannot reverse
the days. I have spent eight months now out of the National Assembly, I cannot
reverse that, but it would be on record that what they did was wrong. As I
said, I am hoping to be in the chamber on Wednesday (15th November) briefly,
because I intend to travel that day. So I am going to be on my own suspension
for two weeks. I am going for Umra, lesser Hajj on that Wednesday that I am supposed
to resume. By then I hope the budget would be ready and we will start the
process. In fact I am even thinking that I may not even come, but I want to
show up because of you. So many people have been looking forward to seeing me.
I think they will be disappointed if they do not see me.
You said you cannot reverse what has happened. Will you
forgive those you think were instrumental in your suspension? Are you expecting
any apology?
Well, I was asked to apologise before and as I said I do not
have any problem apologising if I offend somebody. But I did not do anything
wrong. I am not taking anything personal against anybody. If anybody takes
anything personal against me, I leave him with God because I do not have the
advantage. It’s just that they are taking advantage of their position and the
confidence we have reposed in them.
I have said that I have been betrayed because all of you
know the role I played in the struggle to making that Senate to be better than
what we had during the 7th one. Unfortunately, it became worse because in the
7th Senate, the few of us were those that were kind of senators that you would
say ‘own’ the Senate. It was the concept we had that made us to even disobey
the party order. We said that the senate should belong to the senators. That
was why we brought in even the other parties. That was why we had the like
minds. I initiated that, co-opted people and then we felt that we would now
have a Senate that is real, in the sense that it would stabilise our system. We
said it must start by us deciding who is going to be our Senate President.
I do not really need to go over the role that I played. We
had to disagree with the party and at the end of it, the party was trying to
settle that. At several times, I said if that would bring peace to the senate
let it be. I was ready to leave the senate leadership then. I offered that
three times before I was eventually removed. So I was not bothered. This is the
third time I have been stabbed at the back and I am not bothered.
Did the senate make any representation in court?
The Senate had a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He was
there in the court, two or three times. It is a declaratory judgment. I did not
want to make a big deal out of it. All I wanted was for the court to determine
whether it was right for them to have suspended me for six months in the first
place. If you look at Order 67, sub section 4 of our rules, it only allows the
senate to suspend a person for one day. That is if he behaves unruly and if in
the opinion of the Senate President he behaves like getting physical or
fighting, then he can be suspended for the maximum period of 14 days.
And in my own case, I did not do anything. I just called the
attention of the senate to what was going on in the media about Senator Dino
Melaye and then the issue of the importation of a Range Rover and then I just
drew the attention of my colleagues to the issues. In fact, the decision to
investigate that case was not mine. Mine was to bring it to the attention of
the senate. I would have been overruled. So for them to come behind to say you
should have done the investigation is wrong. Investigate what? I just called
the attention of the senate to the fact that this is what was going on and
everybody knew. So I was even expecting that the senate would commend me
because that point of order that I raised put the two cases to rest, otherwise
it would have still been in the public domain. Like I said, you know you cannot
reverse what has happened. Honestly, I leave everything to God. You see there
is God oh. People would pay for what they did to me. Some of them have started
seeing it already.
We had instances like these in the past, where some
lawmakers had favourable judgments, but the institution did not obey the
rulings. Do you intend to pursue the entitlements that are due to you since the
court has said that in the face of the law you never committed any offence?
My entitlements are mine as the court said, but my
entitlement has been denied me from April to date. I am alive. So, I am not
going to go back because of my entitlements. I am ready to move on and I do not
think that it is a big deal anyway. My right is my right and my right has been
trampled on and in fact my constituents have been denied representation which
is a constitutional matter. My going to court is not primarily because of the financial
aspect of it, no. As I said earlier, senators died and they cannot be paid.
Senators have been removed, they cannot be paid and many of us are out there.
So the emphasis is on the declaration and the interpretation of the action
taken that was unjust on me. That is the most important thing.
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