Senator Ali Ndume has fingered Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Senator Dino Melaye as the architects of his downfall from the seat of Senate majority leader.
In an interview with Premium Times, Ndume said they led the conspiration to remove him because he insisted that the Senate did not follow due process, in rejecting the nomination of acting EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu.
“What I said was that for us (Senate) to claim to have a rejected a nominee sent to us by the president, we have to follow the right procedure, and observe our rules,” he said.
“The nominee should have been called into the chamber and presented before senators who will then openly vote on whether to accept or reject his or her nomination.
“In the case of Magu, that was not done. We only had a closed-door session and when we emerged the Senate spokesperson claimed that he had been rejected. I had to set the record straight by saying we never rejected the nominee. This is because you don’t accept or reject a nominee at a closed session.
“Our votes and proceedings are there as evidence of my claims”, he added.
The senator from Borno admitted he heard rumours of the plot to remove him, but did not take them seriously.
“I was surprised that such a simple and harmless clarification could rattle and anger some of my colleagues,” he said.
“The other day, somebody mentioned to me that the Senate President had commissioned Dino Melaye to collect signatures to remove me. I didn’t pay much attention to the information because I actually thought it was a joke or a rumour.
“I didn’t feel that disagreeing with colleagues, and sharing my understanding of what transpired at our closed session was an offence, grievous enough to cause my removal.”
Ndume was on Monday removed as senate majority leader by the APC caucus.
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