Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South senatorial district applauded the All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination of Senator Godswill Akpabio for Senate President.
WITHIN NIGERIA learned that Ndume who had also expressed his intention to contest for the position warned fellow senators against accepting bribes from candidates.
Remember that the APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) adopted a zoning template for the position of principal officers of the 10th National Assembly on Monday.
The zoning template released on Monday favored the South-South, particularly Akpabio for Senate President.
Others are “Deputy Senate President – North West-Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano). Speaker, House of Representatives North West-Hon. Abass Tajudeen (Kaduna).
“Deputy Speaker South East-Hon. Ben Kalu (Abia)”.
In an interview on Arise TV on Monday, Ndume shared his disappointment when a senator asked him what he wanted in exchange for support. He noted that he was disgusted, but the lawmaker in question later apologized.
Ndume advised senators to maintain their integrity, stating;
Senators are men of integrity and so I have told them not to collect money from any aspirant. Even though I heard that money has changed hands, nobody has approached me to say that he would give him money.
I was the first among the contestants who indicated an interest in writing that I wanted to be Senate President, with a 10-point agenda and these agenda are things that I feel if we make it our programme in the 10th Senate it will bring back the integrity to the Senate, in all these I put the National.