MY LOYALTY IS NOW WITH NPDP – NDUME

The senator representing Southern Borno Senatorial District, Muhammed Ali Ndume has said that he preferred to be with the new-PDP than being where he suffered political persecution.

Ndume who made this assertion yesterday in a chat with journalists in Maiduguri  also explained that his recent romance with the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, should not be mistaken for a shift in political camp.

The senator revealed that though he was not contacted by some of his colleagues who are now members of the nPDP before he was conscripted into the group, he still appreciates being on the splinter group.

“I am being persecuted now because of my political positions or my stand on issues that are political”, Ndume said. “And this is normally the price you have to pay some times”.

“There is problem in the PDP. That is why some of us, particularly the G-7 governors are championing the cause to end that problem. And we that don’t have PDP governors, and  are neither here nor there, the group said we too should come over because we are fighting the same cause. Do you expect me to say no, don’t fight for me? My name was printed as number-two on the list of new-PDP Senators, and the PDP did not come to me up to this day to say no, stay with us, don’t go that side. And here I have people who have regards for me and wanted me to be on their side; where do you expect me to be? Is it where I am being honoured or where I am being persecuted?”

Meanwhile, Ndume yesterday, said security agencies in the country had the capacity to end the insurgency in the North East.

Ndume, who made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri, also urged the security agencies to take proactive measures to end the Boko Haram insurgency.

He said, ``Boko Haram is a calamity that befell our country but I think our security agencies have the capacity to end the whole thing in a short time.

``I think the problem we are having is that of strategy. The security agencies need to apply new strategy to end the problem.’’

He described the Dec. 2 attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in Maiduguri as pathetic.

Source: Leadership