Ndume attacks Saraki over shutting down of NASS

Borno Sen. Ali Ndume has asked Senate President Bukola Saraki to reconvene plenary, saying there are “critical matters of urgent national importance” to be discussed by the lawmakers.

“The closure of the national assembly that day was unbelievable. I was shocked by the way he acted,” he said during a Channels TV show on Wednesday.

“The senate is not Saraki, Saraki is just a member of the senate and the presiding officer that anybody can be.

“So, for him to have just shut down the national assembly because of personal issues is very unfortunate and uncalled for especially when you have very important matters before the senate.

“We have five different critical items. We have the budget of the FCT before the senate which has not been approved.

“We have the virement and supplementary budget for INEC which is necessary in order to conduct the 2019 elections and then we have the appointment and the confirmation of ICPC members, that of FERMA is lying there, that of judicial commission is there and in fact, the budget of 64 government agencies is before the senate. Approval for the funding, external borrowing to fund the 2018 budget which has already been approved is before the senate.”

Ndume is one of the anti-Saraki senators in the ruling APC which just lost about 15 of its senators to the PDP.

While he supported Saraki’s emergence as Senate president against the wish of the party in 2015, Ndume fell out with Saraki in 2016, leading to his suspension for six months.