Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who was sacked as chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum, has opened up on behind-the-scene-details of his removal.
At the close of Wednesday’s plenary, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, announced Adamu’s removal.
Ekweremadu also announced senator Aliyu Wamakko as his replacement.
Admau, who opened up to a Lagos-based national television station, later that day, denied allegations of ‘financial mismanagement and misadministration,; according to his removal letter signed by the forum’s Public Relations Officer, senator Dino Melaye.
Thereafter, at a press conference, senator Shehu Sani alleged Adamu mismanaged N70 million handed over to the NSF by Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan.
The money was a carry-over of the NSF’s funds from the Seventh Senate.
Adamu has denied the allegations.
In the television interview, Adamu said the allegation was a ruse, which was concocted against him because he led some senators to reject passage of re-ordering of the 2019 election sequence in the chamber last week
“This is a no issue, as far as I’m concerned. For one, the chairmanship of any forum in the Senate is not a statutory office; it is an informal forum, of people from a geographical area…It is not the business of the Senate to be involved, as it were, in the question of getting me out as chairman of the NSF. I’m just studying the situation first…I don’t want to react at this moment…”
Senator Adamu faulted the removal and noted that there was no NSF meeting convened to discuss his removal.
The Nasarawa-born lawmaker insisted he would never go against his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the chamber.
“There was no meeting of the NSF known to me and in order to…, they brought in the issue of N70 million not accounted for. That was the height of it! I don’t think I should respond to it. The NSF never had N70 million in its coffers to start with.
“They are scared…because the Senate, the APC, is in the majority and they are not doing their duty to the party because I’m a member of the APC and whatever affects the party affects me…”
On February 14, senator Adamu led nine other senators to oppose Senate passage of the Electoral Act amendment which re-ordered the election sequence in 2019.
Subsequently, Adamu questioned the conduct of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in the passage process.
Adamu insisted he stands by his decision and would “resist any decision the Senate takes” regarding his position.
One of the dissenting senators, Ovie Omo-Agege, at Wednesday’s preempted being sanctioned by the senate leadership when he apologised to his colleagues over his comments criticising the re-ordering of the election.
|Sun