The Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume has explained the reason he left the chamber after Senate President Godswill Akpabio ruled him out of order on Tuesday.
Ndume invoked a point of order to alert Akpabio to "procedural errors" in the chamber.
Akpabio refused to allow Ndume to complete his speech before saying the section quoted by the senator was not the same as the content of Order 54 cited.
Akpabio consequently ruled Ndume out of order and the lawmaker left the chamber afterwards.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa, Ndume explained that the situation originated "When Senator Kawu Sumaila proposed a motion, which he said was urgent on closing the border between Nigeria and Niger.
"At first, it was argued that the motion was not urgent, but the President of the Senate let him finish what he wanted to say.
"After hearing the motion, it was agreed that since it is related to security, it should be suspended."
He said it was at that point he wanted to explain the importance of the motion to the chamber, but the Senate President denied him the opportunity to speak.
"I would like to clarify that the motion, although impactful, falls outside the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Senate.The closure of the border was not initiated by the President of Nigeria, but rather during his tenure as President of ECOWAS. As such, he has the authority to advocate on our behalf.
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"In order to address this matter, it is imperative to involve the president of our nation, but I was not afforded the opportunity to convey this message.
"While this was happening, it coincided with the time of prayer, prompting my departure. Consequently, my colleagues misconstrued my exit, and the journalists changed the meaning of my exit," Ndume said.
He said he told his deputy that he was going to pray, and then he left.
Meanwhile, Elisha Abbo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) senator recently sacked by the Appeal Court, has apologised to Akpabio for accusing him of orchestrating his removal from the parliament.
The Court of Appeal had, on Monday, voided the election of Abbo and declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Amos Yohanna, as the winner of the February 25 senatorial election.
Abbo, while addressing newsmen on Monday, had said Akpabio targeted him for opposing his emergence as Senate President.
The sacked senator made a U-turn when he featured on Arise Television saying, "I have to say this with all sense of humility and responsibility that the press release that we rendered yesterday (Monday) was premature as the available information at our disposal then portended.
"We discovered a lot of things yesterday...yesterday night, I also had a discussion with my leader, senior brother, colleague and the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Akpabio and I am convinced that he was not involved in my exit from the Senate."
