I wanted Ekweremadu impeached, says Ndume

Ali Ndume, majority leader of the senate, on Thursday revealed that he started the impeachment move against Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president, in the seventh senate. But urged his colleagues that “whispers” about leadership crisis in the eighth senate should be buried.

Citing order 18, which has to do with privileges of members, over a newspaper publication that said “22 APC are working against President Buhari”, Ndume said he had convinced senators to append their signatures to Ekweremadu’s planned impeachment, but shelved the plan after the issues that precipitated the move were resolved.

He, therefore,‎ called on all members of the senate to accept the emergence of the presiding officers as an act of God.

“Everyone of us here is qualified to be the senate president. Bukola Saraki happens to be our senate president, but I still want to be senate president,” Ndume said.

“As for the deputy senate president [Ekweremadu], I contested‎ against him on June 9, but God knows he became the deputy senate. It is God that gives power to who he likes.

“Let me say for the records, I was the only person in the seventh senate that attempted to impeach him. I collected signatures in order to impeach him.”

While he spoke, Remi Tinubu, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s wife, shouted at him, interrupting the flow of his speech. But he ignored her and continued, urging the senators not to bring the leadership into disrepute.

‎Bukola Saraki, senate president, referred Ndume’s prayer over the breaching of his privileges by the publication in the newspaper to the committee on ethics and privileges.

Ndume was favourite of the APC to become deputy senate president, but he lost to Ekweremadu, whose emergence had been anticipated as PDP’s reward for helping to enthrone Bukola Saraki as senate president, against the wish of the APC leadership.

Ndume polled 20 votes to Ekweremadu’s 54, but he conceded the election long before the official announcements of votes polled, by giving his opponent a big hug.

Ekweremadu has been deputy president of the senate since 2007.