The Senate and the House of Representatives of the 10th National Assembly elected its presiding officers respectively on Tuesday, 13 June 2023 at the inauguration exercise of Senators-elect and Members-elect.
At the inauguration of the 10th Senate, the Clerk of the Senate, Mr. Chinedu Akubueze commenced the session with a rollcall of Senators-elect after which the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA), Alh. Sani Magaji Tambuwal made a call for the nomination of candidates for the Office of the President of the Senate. At the end of the nominations, Sen. Godswill Akpabio and Sen. Abdul’aziz Yari were nominated as candidates
However, Sen. Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, Ogun West Senatorial District, Ogun State and Sen. Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Borno North Senatorial District, Borno State objected to the nomination of Sen. Yari noting that his nomination violates Order 3, Rule 2 of the Standing Orders of the Senate and should be disqualified from the race.
Order 3, Rule 2 states that:
(2) Nomination of Senators to serve as Presiding Officers and appointments of Principal Officers and other Officers of the Senate or on any Parliamentary delegations shall be in accordance with the ranking of Senators. In determining ranking, the following Order shall apply-
(i) Senators returning based on number of times re-elected.
(ii) Senators who had been Members of the House of Representatives.
(iii) Senators elected as Senators for the First Time.
In response to the submissions of Senators Adeola and Monguno, a ranking Senator, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti: APC) doused the tension that ensued by stating that a Point of Order could not be established as the Oath of Office had not been admitted since the process was for an elective position for the commencement of a new Assembly.
Following from Sen. Bamidele’s intervention, the CNA proceeded with the voting exercise using the Secret Ballot System from which Sen. Akpabio emerged as the President of the 10th Senate with 63 votes to defeat Sen. Yari who received a total of 46 votes. For the Office of the Deputy Senate President, Sen. Jibrin Barau, Kano North Senatorial District, Kano State emerged unopposed.
In the House of Representatives, the open voting system was used for the election of its Presiding Officers with Hon. Tajudeen Abass, Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State emerging as the Speaker with a total of 353 votes while Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State emerged unopposed as his Deputy.
Following the conclusion of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly and the election of its Presiding Officers, the Senate and House of Representatives adjourned plenary to Wednesday, 14 June 2023.
