By Shola Abayomi.
Former Senate Leader and strong contender for the Senate Presidency, Senator Ali Ndume, has reacted to the reported endorsement of Senator Ahmed Lawan by 99 senators-elect who allegedly signed in support of Lawan’s emergence as next Senate President.
Ndume said he is not rattled by the endorsement, claiming that while Lawan may have the endorsement, he has the votes. He further stated that he does not believe in endorsement but election, reminding Lawan of 2015 when he (Lawan) had such endorsements but lost out to Senator Saraki who emerged Senate President of the 8th Senate.
Ndume added that senators will vote on Tuesday for their preferred candidate.
“Well, I have said it before that I am not looking for endorsement but looking for votes on election day.
“You know clearly that there is a difference between endorsement and election. You will recall too that in 2015 that story of endorsement was canvassed. He had the endorsement, but what happened on the floor of the Senate was different. This kind of thing has been there all along, we have seen endorsements against several elections.
“As I have said before, by the grace of God, I will go into election on Tuesday and it has two sides, one is either I win or I loose. I do my number too and not by publishing my colleagues’ names. I believe that my colleagues will vote for the candidate they feel is suitable for the position of Senate President and they shall vote according to their conscience. I am not bothered about endorsements, rather I am worried about the election.
“We are there already and shall become past in a matter of hours from now”, Ndume said yesterday.