The ninth National Assembly will, in a few weeks, wind down its parliamentary duties. It was inaugurated on June 11, 2019.
It is expected that the 10th NASS will be inaugurated in the second week of June.
Ahead of the inauguration, the 109 elected senators and their 360 counterparts in the House of Representatives have begun some pre-induction exercises targeted at taking them through what the nation shall be expecting from them being an important pillar of democratic governance.
According to the Clerk to the National Assembly, Alhaji Sani Tambuwal, the objective of the induction is to expose members-elect to the functions of the NASS, its practices and procedures as well as the services available to them.
Expectedly, the race for who succeeds the outgoing President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has begun with members already forming caucuses to intensify the lobbies for the top job.
The All Progressives Congress, with 59 elected members, has continued to examine factors that would determine who would succeed Lawan with its leaders focusing on a zoning formula that will ensure fairness to all parts of the country.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, is rooting for the zoning of the seat as part of efforts to ensure an all-inclusive government.
Other factors that will determine who leads the upper chamber of the legislature include experience, usually referred to as ranking.
While zoning is an internal arrangement by the ruling APC, ranking is a prerequisite as set up in the Senate Rules.
The APC, with 59 elected members, has the majority of senators and is, thus, poised to produce the next senate president and other principal officers.
The strongest opposition political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, has 36 senators-elect, the Labour Party, has eight members, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party and the Social Democratic Party have two members each.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance and Young Progressives Party also have one member each.
Analysts opine that the gender factor may not count much in the Senate leadership race as there are only three females – Idiat Adebule (APC-Lagos), Ipalibo Banigo (PDP-Rivers) and Ireti Kingibe (LP- FCT).
None of the seven female senators of the exiting senate is returning to the House.
A key bloc likely to determine where the pendulum swings is the APC governors’ bloc.
At a recent meeting with Tinubu and the leadership of the APC, it was resolved that the senate presidency be zoned to the South, but not to any particular zone of that bloc.
Tinubu had argued that since APC members stood for the zoning of the presidency to the South and not to any of the three zones in the area, it would be wrong to propose zoning the senate presidency to any area specifically.
He was quoted as saying that zoning the post to the south would give aspirants from South-East and South-South equal opportunity to go into a fair contest.
Names connected to the race include Lawan, the incumbent, Sen. Barau Jibrin (APC-Kano), Sen. Sani Musa (APC-Niger), and Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu (APC-Abia).
Also on the list are Sen. Godswill Akpabio (APC-Akwa-Ibom), Abdulaziz Yari (APC-Zamfara) and Ali Ndume (APC-Borno).
Barau, currently Chairman, the Senate Committee on Appropriation, believes he is the most competent candidate for the top NASS job, citing experience.
“The Senate leadership requires competence. It doesn’t work on sentiments. It is the tradition all over the world. It is there in our rules and this rule is a product of our constitution.
“It is clearly in our Standing Rules too that aspiration or election for the Office of the Senate President shall be in accordance with ranking.
“Among those seeking to occupy that office, I have the highest ranking. I’m the most experienced.
“You need to be grounded in procedure of legislation before you are able to be the President of the Senate.
“Do you now relegate competence for other sentiments?,” he asked, rhetorically.
But a pressure group, Concerned All Progressives Congress Members Forum, is backing Akpabio for the job while Jibrin should come under him as Deputy Senate President.
The group premises its stance on the federal character principle enshrined in the nation’s statutory books.
