You can’t shut down Senate over your personal issues – APC senator tells Saraki to reconvene plenary

– Senator Ali Ndume has asked Snate President Bukola Saraki to reconvene plenary at the Senate

– Ndume stressed that the Senate is not Saraki; and the Senate president can’t shut down the upper legislative chamber over his personal issues

– He outlined various important issues currently before the red chamber which need to be attended to

Senate President Bukola Saraki has been asked by Senator Ali Ndume (APC-Borno South) to reconvene plenary.

He made the call on Wednesday, August 1, during an interview session on Channels TV.

TRACK NEWS gathers that Ndume argued that it was unfortunate for Saraki to shut down the National Assembly because of personal issues.

He said: “The closure of the National Assembly that day was unbelievable. I was shocked by the way he acted.

“The Senate is not Saraki; Saraki is just a member of the Senate and the presiding officer that anybody can be. So, for him to have just shut down the National Assembly because of personal issues is very unfortunate and uncalled for, especially when you have very important matters before the Senate.

“We have five different critical items. We have the budget of the FCT before the Senate which has not been approved.

“We have the virement and supplementary budget for INEC which is necessary in order to conduct the 2019 elections; and then we have the appointment and the confirmation of ICPC members, that of FERMA is lying there, that of Judicial Commission is there and in fact, the budget of 64 government agencies is before the Senate.

“Approval for the funding, external borrowing to fund the 2018 budget which has already been approved is before the Senate.”

Meanwhile, TRACK NEWS previously reported that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives vowed to prevent any attempt to take over the National Assembly by some All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers and impeach Senate President Bukola Saraki.

The deputy minority leader of the House, Chukwuka Onyema, said they were keeping watch to scuttle any plans to remove Saraki.

He alleged that Senators Abdullahi Adamu, Ovie Omo-Agege and Ali Ndume were heading the plot to impeach Saraki.