Mohammed Ali Ndume

Mohammed Ali Ndume is a Nigerian politician who was a member of the Federal House of Representatives from 2003 to 2011. He was elected to the Senate for Borno South, Borno State, Nigeria in April 2011 running on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) ticket.

Background

Mohammed Ali Ndume was born around 1961 in Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State. He attended Kaduna Polytechnic and then the University of Toledo, USA, where he gained a Masters Degree in Accounting and Computer. He became a Senior Lecturer in Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, Borno State until 2003, when he entered politics.^[1]

ANPP politician

Ndume was elected to represent Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Federal Constituency in April 2003 and was reelected in April 2007, on the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) platform.^[1] He was appointed Minority Leader in the House of Representatives.^[2]

In an August 2010 interview, Ndume said "the PDP in the last 11 years has vandalized Nigeria; they have only introduced kidnapping, assassination, militancy, armed robbery, power degeneration and widespread religious crisis".^[3] In a September interview he praised the record of the ANPP in Borno State, building roads and hospitals. He said "The PDP government has been holding the Federal Government for 11 years now and they have done nothing, except cause chaos in Nigeria".^[4]

PDP politician

In December 2010 Ndume decamped to the PDP, citing the injustices going on in the party as his reason for leaving the ANPP. He said the people from the grassroots of Southern Borno were solidly behind him.^[5] He said that he was not being given a level playing ground in the competition with other ANPP aspirants for candidature in the Senate election. Apparently he had fallen out with Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.^[6] Ndume's defection to the PDP was seen as a major blow to the ANPP. He was said to have been the major financer of ANPP in the Borno-South senatorial zone, and was considered one of the most dynamic of the lawmakers from the northeast zone.^[7]

Following Ndume's defection, the PDP re-opened the sale of nomination forms. Alhaji Sanda Garba, who had been the only aspirant for the South Borno Senate seat, stepped down to make way for Ndume as the PDP candidate.^[7] In the election, Ndume won 146,403 votes, ahead of Dr. Asaba Vilita Bashir of the ANPP with 133,734 votes and Alhaji Unaru Ibrahim of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) with 20,414 votes.^[8]

Alleged links to terrorism

Ndume was appointed to a committee established by President Goodluck Jonathan to consider opening talks with Boko Haram. He said that a military approach would not be effective due to the impossibility of identifying the target. In his view the violence would continue until the group felt they had been heard and saw that the problems of poverty and unemployment were being addressed.^[9] In November 2011, Senator Ndume was reported to be linked to Boko Haram. This alleged connection to Boko Haram was made following the Nigerian State Security Service's interrogation of a suspected Boko Haram member and spokesman, Mallam Ali Konduga.^[10] On 21 November 2011 Leadership (Abuja) reported that Ndume had been arrested.^[11]

References