By Chesa Chesa
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday summoned Senator Ali Ndume, who was recently removed as Senate Chief Whip, on the request of the party, to explain his utterances against President Bola Tinubu which led to the action against him.
After the meeting at the party headquarters in Abuja, National Chairman of APC, Umar Ganduje, said Ndume tendered apology and the party and would convey same to the leadership of the Senate with a view to having it review its position.
Ganduje told journalists that “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.
“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”.
On his part, Ndume conceded that rather than raising some issues on national television, he should have complained through the party leadership.
According to him: “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.
“With what has happened which you are all aware, it is not surprising that I was invited to hear my own side and we had family discussions and 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.
“That is something that moving forward I will do but whatever I said or whatever I did was out of patriotism and those issues maybe said strongly but they are true but then I should have talked to the party as the last bus stop.
“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.
“The President and the Senate have nothing to do with this. The President did not take offence, I didn’t insult the President, I didn’t say anything against the party but I left the party out of reaching it on issues and so, please I think that is all I can say”.
