Show remorse, apologise, you may be forgiven, Melaye tells Ndume

Senator Dino Melaye has said that if the former Senate Majority Leader Ali Ndume could show remorse and apologise to Senate President Bukola Saraki, he may be forgiven or have his six months suspension reduced.

Ndume was suspended on the recommendation of the Senate ethics and privileges committee.

Ndume had moved a motion calling for the probe of Saraki and Melaye and argued that the integrity of the Senate will be in question based on allegations of corruption levelled against the duo.

Saraki was alleged to have illegally purchased a vehicle which was seized by Customs while Melaye was accused of possessing a forged certificate of his bachelor’s degree from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

However, the committee after clearing Saraki and Melaye of any wrongdoings in the allegations against them recommended that Ndume be suspended.

Melaye who spoke on Friday as a guest on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, refuted claims in some quarters that the suspension meted out to Ndume was a clear witch-hunt.

He said, “Senator Ndume is an experienced legislator, having been in the house of representatives for two terms, and this being his second term in the senate,” he said.

“I didn’t prophecy that he would be suspended, or did Bukola Saraki, who was wrongly accused. We are not the ones who make up the senate. Ndume should understand the workings of the National Assembly. The senate is made up of 109 members.

“So, the decision to suspend Ndume was not that of Saraki or myself, but the decision of the Nigerian senate after investigation by the relevant committees… We have a very responsible senate president, a very compassionate Nigerian who does not believe in witch-hunting.

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“Already, there is a lot of pressure, and people are appealing to the person of Bukola Saraki, and I can say on good authority that if Saraki had presided over Ndume’s case, he may not have been suspended because the senate president is a compassionate character. So, if Ndume shows remorse, apologise to the senate, the Bukola Saraki that I know will persuade members to either reduce his punishment or forgive him.”

Reacting also on the argument that Ndume was not given a fair hearing, Melaye said, “The senate has the capacity to suspend any erring senator, but what we are saying here is very clear, due process was followed

“Ali Ndume was given fair hearing. He appeared before the committee, he defended himself before the committee gave that recommendation, which was ratified by the entire senate”, Melaye argued.

Melaye during the programme evaded responding to question on his Harvard degree.

He instead said, “Even a mechanic or a plumber who undergoes apprenticeship is given a certificate… he graduates from his training. Anyone who attends a particular institution and is given a certificate that he attended the programme, whether it is diploma, a degree or PhD, as long as you have been given a certificate, you are a graduate of that institution because you carry a certificate of that institution.

“I am not going to be distracted.”

The internet has been awash with different people mimicking Melaye on how he used a song in a local dialect to taunt those who claimed he had a fake certificate.

 

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