The National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, convened on Tuesday to address recent comments made by Senator Ali Ndume about President Bola Tinubu. These remarks had previously led to Ndume’s removal from his position as Senate Whip.
Following the meeting, Dr. Ganduje expressed satisfaction with Senator Ndume’s apology and indicated that the party would communicate this to the Senate leadership, hoping for a reconsideration of Ndume’s removal.
Ndume’s removal was prompted by the NWC’s complaint to the Senate, led by Godswill Akpabio, regarding the Borno senator’s comments about President Tinubu.
Speaking at the APC national secretariat, Ganduje stated, “We are quite satisfied with his apology. Like he said, we invited him and you know the party is the father of everybody. As a party, we are free to invite legislators, we are free to invite members of the executive, and we are even free to invite all the appointed party members in the government, so, that is why we decided to come.”
Ganduje emphasized the importance of resolving the issue within the party, stating, “It is a family issue, we need to resolve it and we are writing to the National Assembly conveying what has transpired between Senator Ndume and the party and you know he apologized to the party and we will convey the same issue to the National Assembly, with the hope they can review their position.”
Senator Ndume, acknowledging his mistake, admitted that he should have addressed his concerns through party channels rather than publicly. He noted, “Yesterday, I was invited by the party and here I am to discuss family matters. Actually, the national chairman is not just a national chairman to me but a father… I actually accepted the mistake of not talking to the party as a last point and I promised the party that all my observations as a senior member of the family should have terminated or ended with the party.”
Ndume clarified that his remarks were made out of patriotism and that he did not intend to insult the President or the party. He reiterated his commitment to the party, saying, “My membership, I have not been expelled, even the party did not say we don’t want you here, because he is my father, the party is my father, the only thing the party said is that look if you don’t want this house you can go to any house. Where will I go? This is my house.”
He concluded by noting that the President and the Senate were not involved in his remarks and reaffirmed his dedication to resolving issues within the party framework.
