SAN FRANCISCO, November 05, (THEWILL) – The Member representing Borno South at the National Assembly, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Wednesday said he was only on sabbatical leave in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that he never belonged to the party.
Ndume, who spoke with journalists in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, said:” I was on sabbatical leave, I don’t belong to PDP.”
Explaining what led him to PDP, Ndume said: ” It was because of my issue with Ali Modu Sherrif,” adding “Now, we have changed position and we would look how it turns out to be.”
Ndume also used the opportunity to explain the genesis of the crisis between him and the former Borno governor, Modu Sherrif, who recently defected from APC to PDP.
“Virtually because he was the governor and he did not want me to contest and I wanted to contest, so instead of him taking advantage or using his power then as a governor to block me, my people say go to another party, especially the party at the centre and then contest and that is what I did.
“So I moved to PDP and about 100 days or less than that to election. God in his infinite mercy is the one and not me. God has destined that I would be a Senator from 2011 to 2015 half in PDP and half in APC. Then when I came to PDP, I found a party I didn’t really fit into very well because I have been in the opposition and I find it very uncomfortable and even the PDP find it very uncomfortable with me among them. Being an opposition person or they call us radical politicians, so I have to go back to the progressives,” he explained.
Describing PDP’s 16-year rule in the country as the worst, he dismissed Modu Sherrif’s boast of delivering Borno to PDP in 2015 as an empty ranting.
“We are not new to Ali Sherrif boastful character. At one time he compared me to his shoes. You were there when he said even his shoes can win election against me, that is the level he went to then. At that time, he was the sitting governor, Almighty God denied him the Senate and I that he was comparing to his shoes came to the Senate. Now he is saying he would remove the governor and put another person he wants. It is like trying to play God and God would not definitely allow that,” Ndume said.
On the ceasefire arrangement between the Federal Government and Boko Haram, the Senator said: “We are very hopeful this time around because this is not the first time ceasefire has been announced but it has never materialised. So this time around, we hope the ceasefire would be true and our expectation that is supposed to follow the ceasefire would soon be realised., especially the release of the girls that have been in captivity getting to 200 days now and secondly the issue of our local governments that have been captured and are still under the control of Boko Haram, my local government and about nine local governments in Borno.
“ We hope that the ceasefire means that all the internally displaced persons scattered all over the country will be able to return to their homes. We hope that all the roads that have been shut down in Maiduguri would be open and peace restored. We are very eager that is what ordinary man is looking unto. So if the ceasefire is realistic, that is our prayer and we want it as early as possible.”
On the belief by Borno elders and some individuals that there is no ceasefire because the government is not talking with the real Boko Haram, Senator Ndume said:” I hope that what the government is saying is true is true. We have said it before, Boko Haram is now about three groups, the original Boko Haram, the political Boko Haram and the criminal Boko Haram and they are divided into several cells. So it is not surprising when one group is talking about ceasefire, the other may not even be aware or may not be party to it. The government is in a better position to harmonise its position and get to the end. Whatever it is, I believe the issue of insurgency is surmountable if the government is very serious about it. It is because of the past experience that the Borno Elders are skeptical and showing this concern but as I said before, I would want what the government is saying to come out to be true. “
