On Tuesday, October 17, during a plenary session, Senate President Godswill Akpabio urgently called for a closed-door meeting of the Senate.
This request came after Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, the Chief Whip of the Senate, left the chamber following a ruling that deemed him out of order.
Senator Ndume, representing APC Borno South, raised a point of order concerning alleged errors made by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
The error in question was related to a motion presented by Senator Summaila Kawu, representing NNPP Kano South.
Senator Kawu had proposed a debate on the reopening of the Nigerian-Niger Border but failed to specify the title of his motion.
Under the provisions of Senate order 51, Senator Ndume requested the Senate President to allow for the correction of any errors noticed during the plenary session.
He emphasized that the Senate operates under the guidance of laws, rules, and procedures, and errors should be rectified before proceeding with any legislative matters.
However, Akpabio swiftly intervened, asserting that once rulings are made on issues raised, they cannot be revisited. Consequently, Senator Ndume was ruled out of order.
Senator Sunday Karimi of APC Kogi West attempted to support Ndume’s argument through another point of order, but he, too, was quickly ruled out of order by Senate President Akpabio.
In an effort to address the situation, Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau, referred to order 16, which requires a substantive motion to be presented by any Senator for the correction or review of previous decisions.
Akpabio supported Barau’s point of order, which further frustrated Ndume. He raised another point of order (order 54) to seek correction of the perceived error but was ruled out of order once again by the Senate President.
In response to Akpabio’s decisions, Ndume gathered his documents and left the chamber in apparent anger.
Perplexed by this turn of events, the Senators promptly convened a closed-door session, which was ongoing at the time of this report.
