Fresh indications emerged on Monday that the
South-West geo-political zone would produce
the next Deputy Senate President based on the
ranking rule of the upper chamber which gives
preference to returning senators.
A critical analysis of the incoming 8th Senate
indicated that with a simple majority in the
chamber, the All Progressives Congress’
members are expected to emerge as, Senate
President; Deputy Senate President; Senate
Majority Leader; Chief Whip; Deputy Majority
Leader and Deputy Chief Whip.
A ranking senator, who preferred anonymity,
told our correspondent that the APC Senate
Caucus members were pushing for the Deputy
Senate President slot to be filled by the
South-West since the North-Central and the
North-East were currently battling to produce
the Senate President.
He said South-South and the South-East
would only produce the Minority Leader,
Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip, and
Deputy Minority Whip because none of the
senators from the zone, either new or old, was
a member of the APC which would constitute
the majority in the 8th Senate.
He said the North-West was expected to fill
the slot of the Senate Leader, because there
were many ranking APC senators from the
zone.
But further investigations by our
correspondent in Abuja revealed that there
was a simmering battle among members of
the incoming 8th Senate, as some new
entrants were allegedly insisting that the
ranking rule be set aside during the
composition of the Senate leadership.
A ranking senator confided in our
correspondent on Monday that some fresh
senators, believed to have strong godfathers
were also lobbying party elders to be elected
as principal officers.
The returning senators, he added, were
however insisting on the application of Senate
Standing Orders 2011 (as amended) during
the inauguration of the 8th Senate on June 4.
The rule stipulates that any senator who has
been elected and has been re-elected into the
chamber, has advantage over a member who
is newly elected into the chamber.
Chapter II (2) of the Senate rules specifically
removes any ambiguity about the status of
Senators in the chamber.
The rule titled, “Election of presiding and other
officers states that in determining ranking
states that, “the following order shall apply:
(i) Senators returning based on number of
times re-elected; (II) Senators who had been
members of the House of Representatives; and
(iii) Senators elected as Senators for the first
time.”
Based on this ranking rule, only senators who
had been re-elected based on the number of
times he had won elections in to the Senate,
are expected to form the nuclei of the
leadership.
Attempts to find out details of the meeting
allegedly held in Abuja by the APC Senate
Caucus were unsuccessful as some of the
senators contacted denied knowledge of the
meeting.
For instance, Senator Robert Boroffice (Ondo
North) said, “I am in Ondo State at the
moment. We are resuming tomorrow
(Tuesday), and I don’t have any invitation to
attend any meeting.”

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