Photo: Akpabio, new Senate President
Breaking: Akpabio emerges Senate President
Sen Godswill Akpabio, a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, on Tuesday emerged as the President of the 10th Assembly during the election conducted at the Senate Chambers in Abuja on Tuesday.
Akpabio, who is the preferred candidate of the All Progressives Congress, was paired with the senator representing Kano South, Jibrin Barau, by the party to emerge as the Deputy Senate President.
After a quick recess, the Clerk declared Akpabio as the Senate President having garnered 63 votes leaving his rival to 46 votes.
The senator-elect for Borno South, Ali Ndume, had nominated Akpabio, who is senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North-East, as president of the Senate and Akpabio had accepted the nomination.
The nomination was seconded by Lagos Sen Adeola Solomon.
Elisha Abbo, senator-elect for Adamawa North, had nominated Abdulaziz Yari, senator-elect for Zamfara West, and was seconded by Ondo Senator Jimoh Ibrahim.
However senators protested that Yari was not allowed to stand for the position because he was a first-time senator.
But it was later allowed because he is a former member of the House of Representatives.
After the lawmakers cast their votes in alphabetical order, two representatives of each team came to count their votes.
Senators Adeola Solomon and Ndume came out to represent Senator Akpabio, while Abbo and the senator-elect representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Jimoh Ibrahim, represented Senator Yari.
Following his victory, Akpabio was sworn-in as the 13th Senate President and was also administered the oath of membership of the National Assembly and that of the office of Senate President, by the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Magaji Tambuwal at about 9.40am.
