FULL LIST: Nigeria’s 10th Senate gets principal officers
Nigeria’s Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, during the House plenary announced the names of eight lawmakers as Senate majority and minority leaders for the tenth Senate.
The majority leaders, who are four in number emerged from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) while the minority leaders emerged from various opposition parties.
Below is the list of the principal officers for the 10th Senate:
Majority leaders
Opeyemi Bamidele – Senate Majority Leader (Ekiti Central, APC)
Dave Umahi – Deputy Majority Leader (Ebonyi South, APC)
Ali Ndume – Chief Whip (Borno South, APC)
Lola Ashiru – Deputy Whip (Kwara South, APC)
Minority leaders
Mwadkwon Davou – Senate Minority Leader (Plateau North, PDP)
Kamorudeen Olarere – Deputy Minority Leader (Osun West, PDP)
Darlington Nwokeocha – Senate Minority Whip (Abia Central, LP)
Rufai Hanga – Deputy Minority Whip ( Kano Central, NNPP).
APC chairman protests selection
Reacting to the selection of the officers, the national chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, on Tuesday, expressed anger.
Adamu said the party was not officially informed about the sharing of the offices, describing the report of the emergence of principal officers as a rumour.
The party chair spoke at a crucial meeting of the National Working Committee and APC governors at the party secretariat in Abuja hours after Akpabio made his selection.
Speaking on the development in the federal parliament, Adamu said, “I have just heard a rumour now from the online media that there have been some announcements in the Senate and House of Representatives.
“The national headquarters of the party of the NWC has not given any such information or communicated about the choice of offices. Until we formally resolve and communicate with them in writing which is the norm and practice, it is not our intention to break away from traditions.
“So whatever announcement is done either the President of the Senate, Deputy Senate President, Speaker or Deputy Speaker, is not from this secretariat.
“We are going to formally inform you that we are going to have a caucus. For quite a time, there has been no caucus in place. The caucus has been reconstituted according to the constitution of APC. And we will be discussing that with you as governors, you know your states more than we know it. Even if we come from the same state, the leadership is in you as governors.”
Continuing, the APC chairman disclosed that the party would make an official announcement when the decision on the sharing formula of the principal offices had been determined.
Meanwhile, several lawmakers are backing the National Assembly leaders’ decision and they have also endorsed the new principal officers, despite APC chairman’s reservations.
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