Barely 24 hours after rejecting a procedural defect at the Senate’s plenary session, former majority leader of the Senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has been announced the winner of the 2024 Courage in Leadership Award.
The award, which will be presented to Ndume in March 2025 by the management of The Sun Newspaper, is based on the lawmaker’s pro-people stance on many issues that had come up in the National Assembly.
In a letter communicating Ndume’s emergence as the winner of the award, the managing director of The Sun Newspaper, Onuoha Ukeh, said:
“Your choice as winner of the Courage in Leadership Award was predicated on the following reasons: ‘ For 21 years, you have been a federal legislator, having served as a member of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2011, and at the Senate from 2014 till date. It has been quite an eventful period, particularly during your term as Senator representing Bomo South. At different times, you have served as the Senate Leader, chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, and Senate Chief Whip, among others. In your years at the Senate, your trade mark has been speaking truth to power. Twice in your political career in the Senate, you have been suspended for speaking your mind and standing by what you believe is for the public good.”
“In July this year, you were suspended by the Senate for pointing out that President Bola Tinubu was not aware of the pervasive hunger and poverty that were ravaging the land.
The punitive action was taken by the leadership of the Senate, which felt that as a party member, you shouldn’t have criticised the president and did not deter you from speaking out about other issues of national importance that required urgent government action, like insecurity across the country.
“In 2017, you were also suspended by the Senate for calling for the investigation of allegations of importation of bulletproof cars without valid documents by two senior members of the Senate. You stood your ground, insisting that the Senate should not be subjected to ridicule by allowing such grave allegations to go uninvestigated.
As a public office holder, particularly a Senator, you have never shied away from speaking the truth, irrespective of your political affiliation and personal interests. Under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, you spoke vehemently against his style of leadership. Pointing out fundamental issues that needed to be dealt with by the administration.
“What you have done under the Tinubu administration is not different. For instance, you have been very vocal about the negative impacts of the tax regime of the government, canvassing the view that the masses should be allowed to breathe in the face of excruciating economic pains. Sometimes, you sound like a lone voice in the wilderness.
It Is for these reasons that our Board of Editors chose you as the winner of The Sun Courage in Leadership Award for 2024.”
The Sun Courage in Leadership is given to that man or woman who, in the face of risks and daunting challenges, continues to affirm his or her courage for the good of society.
The formal presentation of the award will be held at The Sun Awards 2024 ceremony scheduled for Lagos on March 1, 2025.
We invite you to be physically present to receive the award, associates, and friends.”
