Ndume: I wanted to be senate president

Ali Ndume, senate majority leader, on Monday said he nursed the ambition of becoming president of the senate.

Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, Ndume said he shelved the ambition as soon Senate President Bukola Saraki emerged.

“I wanted to be the president of the senate at one time but we cannot have two presidents in the senate at the same time and that is why you see that as soon as we have a senate president, I stood by him 100 per cent,” he said.

Ndume  dismissed the call for Saraki’s resignation due to his case at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), saying the senate president remains innocent until proven otherwise.

He said the senate would have a rancour-free session upon resumption on Tuesday.

He added that the red chamber would focus more on deliberating on very important bills, such as the anti-corrupt practices prohibition bill and other bills and motions that may come up on the floor.

“Let me refer you to Section 35(5) of our constitution which talks about right of fair hearing: the constitution clearly states that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

“In this case, if somebody is accused as Saraki is accused now; do you expect him to say he will resign? it means you have found him guilty even before the trial, which is not fair.

“That is my position; I have been in this business for a very long time, I am not expecting any rowdy session, there is no big deal in that.

“If events happen like this, we know how to handle it; no problem with that.”

On his alleged frequent visits to the Villa, he said he had been a friend of President Muhammadu Buhari for a long time and had continued to visit him and would not relent.

Ndume added that as the leader of the senate, there were lots of consultations necessary between the executive and the legislature.

“I am the senate leader and we do consultations, I go to do consultation and we should be doing that more often,” he said.

“When the president was in Kaduna on retirement, I used to visit him, so this time around it should not change.

“I have also established good relationship with the vice president and if there are issues that demand my going to the Villa, I do not know why I should not go.

“Why should my presence at the Villa be news?”