Senator Godswill Akpabio has been elected Senate President.
On Tuesday, he defeated Senator Abdul’aziz Yari to become the new Senate President.
The former Akwa Ibom governor was re-elected as President of the Tenth Senate with 63 votes, defeating Senator Yari with 46 votes.
Senator Akpabio was later sworn in as the 10th National Assembly’s Senate President, succeeding Senator Ahmad Lawan, who is also a member of the 10th Senate.
Earlier, voting commenced at the Red Chamber in Abuja, Nigeria.
Voting begun at exactly 08:45am on Tuesday on a state by state basis, alphabetically.
Voting ended at exactly 09:15am.
Akpabio was sworn in at exactly 09:44am.
Nominations were received for Senator Yari and Senator Akpabio after which the Clerk of the Senate declared nominations closed in absence of further nominations.
The contest was between Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State and Akpabio, a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and ex-governor of Akwa Ibom State.
READ ALSO: Godswill Akpabio Biography: Inside The Life Of The Former Akwa Ibom Governor
Akpabio and Yari are leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The former Zamfara governor had already opposed the party’s endorsement of the former minister and requested that the endorsement be reviewed, but the APC did not change its stance. The party also chose Barau Jibrin of the North-West to be the Deputy Senate President.
Scores of APC Senators in Yari’s camp also rejected the party’s stance and called for a reassessment of the formula, stating that the North-West provided the President the most votes and thus ought to be compensated.
Some APC members had entreated 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 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 stepped down for either Akpabio or Yari.
