Senator Ali Ndume, the Senate Chief Whip, has stated that he has more parliamentary experience than the present Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Speaking on Channels Television Sunday Politics on Sunday, the Borno federal lawmaker said he is not working against Akpabio or seeking to remove him from office since he cannot damage the house he created.
In light of the recent incident on the Senate floor in which Akpabio ruled him out of order while attempting to correct the Senate President, Ndume said Akpabio should have invited him for a one-on-one meeting.
He believes that a Senate President should not overrule his Chief Whip.
Ndume, on the other hand, stated that he left the chamber after being declared out of order not out of rage, but because it was time to pray. He went on to say that people should not take the situation out of context.
“My problem is the way he handled the situation and what happened the last time was misunderstood or taken out of context. Don’t forget that I fought here, campaigned for Akpabio. You can’t build a house and destroy it,” Ndume said.
“The main problem is that I’m more experienced than him. When I tried to correct him… you don’t overrule your chief whip.
“At that time, he was supposed to invite me then we would talk more one-on-one but he took advantage of the gavel and it was 12:30 pm and I needed to go and pray.”
Ndume was first elected to the Senate in 2011, while Akpabio was first elected in 2015.
