Former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio has been elected as the 10th Senate President as he defeated former Zamfara State Governor, Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, to emerge as the nation’s Number 3 man on Tuesday.
Akpabio, who is also the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, scored 63 votes to defat Senator Yari who scored 46 votes.
Senator Akpabio was subsequently sworn in as the President of the Senate for the 10th National Assembly, thereby succeeding Senator Ahmad Lawan, who is also a member of the 10th Senate.
TheIdeal recalls that President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had insisted on zoning the principal officers of the National Assembly to the six geo- political zones for equity, inclusive governance and national unity.
Tinubu and the APC also zoned the Senate Presidency to Christian South South (where Akpabio comes from) on the grounds that Nigeria could not afford a situation where the three most important posts in Nigeria would come from the same religious faith, as the President and Vice President Kashim Shettima are Muslims.
But Yari and his associates had faulted the zoning arrangements of their party, saying that the lawmakers should be allowed to chose their leaders.
Voting had earlier commenced at the Red Chamber as the exercise begun at about 8.45am on Tuesday on a state by state basis, alphabetically.
Voting also ended at exactly 9.15am while
Akpabio was sworn in at about 9.44am.
Nominations were received for Senator Yari and Senator Akpabio after which the Clerk of the Senate declared nominations closed in absence of further nominations.
But contest was strictly between Akpabio and Yari.
Akpabio and Yari are top-ranking chieftains of the ruling APC.
Incidentally, Yari had before now protested the endorsement of Akpabio by the party and asked that the endorsement be reviewed but the APC did not shift ground.
The party also anointed Barau Jibrin from the North-West for the office of the Deputy Senate President.
Scores of APC Senators in Yari’s camp had also rejected the party’s position and called for a review of the formula, arguing that the North-West gave the President the highest vote and therefore deserves to be compensated.
Some APC members also begged Yari to drop his ambition to make it a smooth sail for Akpabio but the former governor vowed to fight to the finish.
In the just-concluded elections, the ruling APC secured about 70 seats in the Red Chamber, the highest by any party and followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
Many APC lawmakers had indicated interest to emerge the next Senate President but some of the aspirants later stepped down for either Akpabio or Yari.
