FORMER governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, has been elected as the President of the Senate of the 10th Assembly.
Akpabio, who is the preferred candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu, defeated his closest rival and former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari.
Clerk of the National Assembly, Sani Tambuwal, declared Akpabio as the Senate President having garnered 63 votes against Yari’s 46 votes.
The sitting commenced at 9am and after the Clerk called for nominations, the senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, nominated Akpabio, representing Akwa Ibom North-East, who accepted the nomination, while Elisha Abbo, representing Adamawa North, nominated Yari, representing Zamfara West, despite protest that Yari, being a first-time senator, should not be allowed to stand for the position.
The lawmakers cast their votes in alphabetical order, with two representatives of each candidate counting their votes.
Senators Adeola Solomon and Ndume came out to represent Akpabio, while Abbo and the senator representing Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim, represented Yari.
At the end it all came down to Akpabio garnering 63 votes, while Yari had 46 votes.
Akpabio was subsequently sworn in as the president of the 10th senate. He succeeds Dr. Ahmed Lawan
IN the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, representing Zaria Federal Constituency, emerged as the Speaker
He secured 353 votes out of 359 to defeat rivals Ahmed Wase and Sani Jaji, who polled three votes each.
Abbas was nominated by former majority leader of the House, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, seconded by Nnolim Nnaji, Tijjani Kayode Ismail, from Kwara State nominated Wase, who is the immediate past deputy speaker of the House, while Ahmed Yusuf Ibrahim from Katsina State nominated Jaji from Zamfara State.
Benjamin Kalu was nominated unopposed and elected for the post of Deputy Speaker.
The APC had earlier endorsed Abbas and Kalu for the positions, a move that was protested by Wase and other contenders, known as the G-7, who vowed not to step down for the preferred candidates.
But by Sunday, June 11, two of the contesters- Aliyu Betara and Yusuf Gagdi- dropped out after meeting with President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The inauguration process commenced before 10 am, with Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlami, joined by the Clerk of the House presiding.
Abass and Kalu were sworn in as Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively, shortly after the results were announced.
