Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, talks to LEKE BAIYEWU on why he stepped down for a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, in the race for the next Senate President, among other issues

You declared to run for the position of the Senate President in the 10th National Assembly, but there are reports that you have backed out of the race. Is this true?

As you know, I indicated my interest in becoming the Senate President. I presented my 10-point agenda. But you know, in whatever you do, you consider national interest first. Secondly, you consider the institution’s interest before your personal interest. So, when the party (All Progressives Congress) and the President-elect (Bola Tinubu) approached me that I should step down for a candidate from the South-South, that is (Senator Godswill) Akpabio, and they also appealed to me to lead the campaign for Akpabio in order to ensure stability in the polity, I conceded and agreed. That is why. I believe I am the most qualified but that is not the only consideration when you want to serve.

Are you saying the APC and Tinubu approached you, and not Akpabio himself?

No, not Akpabio. Initially, Akpabio appealed to me to step down for him and I told him that I would not step down because I was waiting for the party and the President-elect to decide on the zoning (of leadership positions in the Senate) or if they had any preferred candidate. He told me that he was the President-elect’s preferred candidate and I said I had to confirm that. And I confirmed it with the President-elect. It is already in the public domain; the party has endorsed him as the preferred candidate.

How will the APC deal with the agitation from other aspirants, especially some of the lawmakers from the South-East?

That is normal because we were about eight to 10 that indicated interest (in the position). It is natural for people to resist or be displeased with the decision taken by the party. But the party is supreme as far as I am concerned and it does not depict any sense to place your interest above the national interest, especially the stability of the nation. In fact, that is why we named the group that is leading the Akpabio pact the Stability Group. These are lawmakers who are interested in the stability of the country by being just, fair and equitable. Akpabio from the South-South fixes that because I think he is almost the only one there with the cognate experience and the capacity to actually be the Senate President.

There are those who are aggrieved that Akpabio, while he was the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, once accused members of the National Assembly of taking contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission, most of which were not executed. This happened when the House of Representatives was investigating the commission. Is presiding over an institution he was part of and later criticised not enough reason to move against him?

I don’t think so because in the first place, I knew about the incident. It was not that Akpabio directly attacked the National Assembly. The accusation was directed at one of the executive directors (of the NDDC), who happened to be a one-time member of the National Assembly. So, having a disagreement with the National Assembly on some issues is not a new thing and it should not be taken personally. As of then, Akpabio was the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. Even though I am not deeply concerned about what happened, that should not be an excuse to sacrifice him when there is a call for this important national assignment.

If the APC wanted to create stability by insisting on the South-South and Akpabio, has the party not created instability by denying the North-Central any slot and giving two to the North-West?

Well, that one is another topic entirely and I don’t want to dwell on that because I am not the party nor am I the President-elect.

But you are a leader of the party and from the North. Aren’t you?

I understand that the party preferred and nominated one Abbas Tajudeen as the preferred candidate for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and there is a lot of agitation and revolt from the members-elect. But as I told you, I don’t want to go into things that I don’t have the locus standi to speak on. I am talking about the Senate and I will prefer you talk to me about the Senate.

There is another top Senate presidential aspirant from the North-Central, Senator Sani Musa, from Niger State. What would you advise him to do at this point?

Senator Sani is not agitating as far as I am concerned. We all started this project together and I know that the President-elect has spoken to him too. I did not hear directly from him, but I hear that he has also conceded. All they are agitating for now is the position of the Deputy Senate President.

Can you vouch for Akpabio to be a competent and efficient President of the Senate, especially as the current leadership of the National Assembly has been widely criticised and described as a rubber stamp for the executive?

Let me tell you that I don’t know very much about Akpabio, but you know I worked with him for a short time – about two years. When I was the Majority Leader, he was the Minority Leader. One thing I know is that Akpabio is reliable. One thing I know is that he has the capacity. He was once a commissioner, he was governor, he was Senate Minority Leader, and then, he was a minister. At a point, he attempted to be the President before he stepped down for the President-elect. So, I know that Akpabio had the required pedigree to be the Senate President. Besides, the 10th Senate is not going to be like the previous ones when you have, more or less, the senators’ president instead of the Senate President. Akpabio has agreed with us that he will just be one among equals and not first among equals. Very soon, we will push for the (10-point) agenda that I presented to the party for it to be adopted. Even if it is not (adopted), I will stand by the agenda in my pursuit during my sojourn in the 10th Senate.

Do you agree that Akpabio’s case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission could be a distraction to him as President of the Senate?

If you look at the EFCC case… let us not be trivial. In Nigeria of today and all these politicians, is there anybody that has no EFCC case virtually in one way or the other? Besides, what the EFCC is doing is to normally deal with petitions from individuals. So, by tomorrow, if something happens, you can write a petition against me and the EFCC has an obligation to invite me to testify if it is not true. So, there are even convicted people who are running for public offices. We have people that have EFCC cases who are there. Almost all those that want to contest (elections), especially in the Senate, have at one time or the other had an EFCC invitation. Unless you are convicted, you are not a criminal in Nigeria.

What if a current President of the Senate is prosecuted, found guilty and sentenced; is that not a bad image for the country?

Don’t be concentrating on trivialities. I don’t do interviews on trivialities. Are you not aware that even somebody that is agitating to be Senate President has been convicted?

Now that you have quit the race for the office of the Senate President, what are the other leadership positions you are considering?

No, it is not personal. What God has done for me is a big favour that He has done for only a few (persons). This is my sixth term in the National Assembly. I wanted to be the Senate President and I believe it would have been better, but because of the other considerations, which I have told you, especially national interest and stability, I stepped down based on the appeal by the party and the leadership. So, position is not the issue that I am looking out for. I am sure that I will get a role. Whatever role I am given, if that is what God has destined for me, I am ready to work for it. God has already done me the favour of going through an election and winning that election. Alhamdulillah! I am satisfied with that and I will be ready to take up any assignment God assigns to me.

How do you think the opposition and minority caucus will fare under Akpabio in the Senate, especially being a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party and ex-Minority Leader?

That is one of the greatest advantages that he has. I also have that advantage because I was in the PDP at one point. Akpabio was in the PDP, now he is in the APC, and that serves as an advantage because it tells you that in Nigeria, the political party does not really matter; it is the individual and what they intend to do that matters. As I said, we have already resolved before the inauguration of the 10th Assembly that we will work for the stability of this country; we will sacrifice. We will draw up programmes that will stabilise the polity, the economy and provide what is the purpose of a government; that is, security and welfare of the citizens.

We have also agreed to restore the integrity of the Senate, which we have lost. We also agreed that we would work with the executive harmoniously without compromising the institutional independence of the legislature. We also agreed that we would work in harmony with the executive, especially the President-elect being one of our own, because the President-elect and his deputy were both senators. And as you know, senator is a life title. Once you are a senator, you are always a senator. So, we are hoping to have a rancour-free 10th Assembly. We will work with the executive, doing our oversight function and helping the government to stabilise the country, improve the economy and bring back the integrity of not only the Senate, but the country in general.

Resolutions reached and bills passed by the National Assembly don’t usually get the attention they deserve from the executive and its institutions. How will the 10th Assembly be able to get the executive to prioritise resolutions of the federal parliament?

As I told you, those who are at the helm of affairs of the country now are members of the National Assembly. So, if they disregard the resolution of the National Assembly, it means that they are disrespecting the National Assembly.

Who precisely are you referring to as members of the National Assembly?

Tinubu was a senator; Kashim (Shettima) was a senator. The National Chairman (of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu) was a senator. The National Secretary (of the APC, Iyiola Omisore) was a senator. The Deputy National Chairman (North of the APC, Abubakar Kyari) was a senator. Even the wife of the President (Oluremi Tinubu) is a senator. So, we believe and we are expecting that we will have the highest respect during the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is a senator. He was a governor. Now, he is a President-elect. He is a true democrat; he does not have a military background. So, there is no military mentality. You remember that most of the presidents, apart from (Goodluck) Jonathan and (Umaru) Yar’Adua, had military backgrounds. So, there was a mixture or element of military mentality in the presidents. But this time, it is purely a democratic process.

If the President-elect is nominating who should be President of the Senate, how can you assure Nigerians that it will not be another rubberstamp Senate in the 10th Assembly?

Am I an insurance company? Let me tell you one thing; I can assure you about myself. That is to say whenever anything that is not right or whenever it requires that we must speak truth to power, Nigerians can always count on me and my voice will be heard. Even if I don’t have my way, I will have my say.