Abuja, Nigeria – Tensions ran high during a Senate plenary session on Tuesday when the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, called for an impromptu closed-door meeting following a disruption caused by the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume.
The disturbance unfolded after Senator Ndume, representing APC Borno South, raised a point of order to address alleged uncorrected errors attributed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. The error in question pertained to a motion put forward by Senator Summaila Kawu, representing NNPP Kano South, concerning the reopening of the Nigerian-Niger border. Senator Kawu had omitted the title of his motion.
Senator Ndume, invoking Senate standing rule order 51, requested that Akpabio permit the correction of any errors noticed during the plenary session. He emphasized the Senate’s commitment to adhering to established rules and procedures.
However, Akpabio promptly intervened, asserting that once rulings were made on issues raised during the session, they could not be revisited, ultimately declaring Ndume out of order. Senator Sunday Karimi, representing APC Kogi West, attempted to support Ndume’s argument through another point of order but faced a similar swift rejection from Akpabio.
In an effort to find a solution, Deputy President of the Senate Jibrin Barau referred to order 16, which stipulates that a substantive motion should be presented by a senator for the correction or review of a prior decision. Akpabio upheld Barau’s point of order, leading to another attempt by Ndume to correct what he perceived as an error.
Despite his efforts, Senator Ndume was once again ruled out of order by the Senate President. Frustrated by this decision, Ndume left the chamber in a visibly angry manner, gathering his documents and exiting.
The contentious atmosphere prompted the Senate to convene an urgent closed-door meeting, which was still ongoing at the time of reporting. The closed-door session is expected to address the issues that led to the disruption of the plenary and seek a resolution to the apparent disagreements among the senators.