Southeast lawmakers in the House of Representatives have flayed former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, for urging detention of Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.
The group’s leader, Chukwuka Onyema, accused him of interfering with the statutory duties of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The caucus stressed that Ndume is among those behind Ekweremadu’s ordeal in the hands of the anti-graft agency.
They said: “We have closely watched events around the National Assembly, especially the ruthless attempts to emasculate the opposition and unseat the Senate leadership by all means.
Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President
“We have also followed the ongoing investigation by the EFCC on the allegations leveled against Ekweremadu. Despite our doubts, we have maintained calm, hoping that the law would take its natural cause to vindicate the innocent.
They expressed concern that Ndume had accused the EFCC of treating Ekweremadu with kid’s gloves, without regard for his ill health.
They argued: “While Ekweremadu needs to be alive to face his investigation, Ndume prefers to push the EFCC to compromise his health without caring about the likely outcome.”
Onyema stressed that Ndume’s call was in line with the position of senators in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a cabal’s plot to remove him from functioning as the deputy senate president.
He linked the earlier siege to Ekweremadu’s home and that of Senate President Bukola Saraki to the plot to stop them from presiding over the upper chamber.
According to the caucus, they were “not restraining the EFCC from heeding Ndume’s hate speech and prompting, to act unprofessionally by detaining Ekweremadu, or acting in ways that are inimical to his health and wellbeing.
“We, however, surely know those to hold responsible should anything happen to Ekweremadu,” they declared.
The caucus recollected that Ndume was never mistreated when he was charged with alleged terrorism and links with Boko Haram.
According to them: “We vividly recall the day that Ndume was charged alongside former Boko Haram spokesperson, Ali Sada Umar Kunduga.
