Godswill Akpabio, former governor of Akwa Ibom State, has been elected the new Senate President of the Assembly.
Akpabio is the preferred candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
Akpabio and Senator-elect Abdulazeez Yari, the former governor of Zamfara State, were fighting as voting for the new Senate President got underway.
After a brief break, Sani Tambuwal, the Clerk of the National Assembly, announced that Akpabio had won 63 votes, leaving his opponent with 46.
The election began before 9 a.m. as opposed to the scheduled time of 10 a.m.
Ali Ndume, the senator-elect for Borno South, proposed Godswill Akpabio, the senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North-East, as the Senate’s president after the Clerk of the National Assembly called for nominations. Akpabio accepted the nomination, while Abdulaziz Yari, the senator-elect for Zamfara West, was proposed by Elisha Abbo, the senator-elect for Adamawa North.
Two members from each team arrived to count the ballots after the legislators cast them alphabetically.
Senators Adeola Solomon and Ndume showed up to speak on behalf of Senator Akpabio, while Senator Yari was represented by Abbo and Jimoh Ibrahim, the senator-elect for the Ondo South Senatorial District.
