BREAKING: Uproar as Senator Ndume storms out of Senate Chamber

On Tuesday, October 17, during the Senate’s plenary session, Senate President Godswill Akpabio called for an urgent closed-door meeting following the departure of Chief Whip Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who had been ruled out of order.

 Senator Ndume, representing APC Borno South, had raised a point of order concerning alleged unaddressed errors made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Ndume’s concern was related to a motion brought by Senator Summaila Kawu (NNPP Kano South) regarding the reopening of the Nigerian-Niger border. The issue was that Senator Kawu did not state the title of his motion.

Using Senate standing rules order 51, Ndume requested that the Senate President allow for the correction of any errors observed during the plenary session. He emphasized that the Senate should abide by established laws, rules, and procedures and correct errors before proceeding with the session.

Akpabio disagreed and ruled Ndume out of order, citing that once issues had been ruled upon, they couldn’t be revisited. Senator Sunday Karimi (APC Kogi West) also attempted to support Ndume’s argument using a point of order but was swiftly ruled out of order by Senate President Akpabio.

Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau, then rose to read order 16, which stipulates that a substantive motion must be moved by a Senator to correct or review earlier decisions. Akpabio supported Barau’s point of order, further frustrating Ndume, who raised another point of order (order 54) to seek correction of the perceived error.

However, without allowing Ndume to fully present his argument, the Senate President ruled him out of order once again. Infuriated by this decision, Ndume gathered his documents and left the chamber in anger.

This decision by Akpabio incited confusion among the Senators, leading them to swiftly enter a closed-door session, which is ongoing as of the time of this report.