Nigeria’s senators have declared the country’s third most powerful office “not vacant”, throwing their weight behind Godswill Akpabio to lead the next Senate months before a single vote is cast.
Main image: DGBN graphic. Photo: Wikibride / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A motion, a seconder and a voice vote
During Thursday’s plenary, Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North) moved that there was “no vacancy” in the Senate presidency of the 11th National Assembly. He said the same applied to the deputy Senate president and the other principal officers.
Cyril Fasuyi (APC, Ekiti North) seconded the motion, saying the seat was “not open to any contest”, according to Premium Times. Most senators present backed it in a voice vote.
The declaration endorses the return of Senate President Akpabio, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and the rest of the leadership. The 11th Senate is due to be inaugurated in June 2027, after next year’s general elections.
What led up to it
The vote followed remarks by Akpabio on criticism he has faced this week over the Senate’s handling of a bill to decriminalise attempted suicide, which passed second reading on Tuesday. Some critics accused him of religious bias. Akpabio rejected that, called the criticism politically motivated and said he holds no bias against any faith.
He told senators that with the presidency and vice-presidency already settled, the Senate presidency was the one big post “everybody” would want to contest. He urged commentators to study the people involved before attacking reputations.
The race behind the race
Akpabio, elected Senate president in June 2023, has already asked President Bola Tinubu to back his return. He made that request at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council at the State House in Abuja, as DGBN reported in Tinubu Launches 2027 Campaign Council, Tells APC Chiefs: Deliver Your Polling Units.
Others are circling. Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, the APC candidate for Imo West in the January National Assembly election, has been the subject of speculation about a bid once his governorship ends. Former APC national chairman Adams Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North, is also reported to be interested.
A resolution passed by the current Senate cannot bind the next one. Senators-elect will choose their own presiding officers when the new Assembly is inaugurated.
Why it matters
The Senate president heads the National Assembly and ranks third in Nigeria’s order of succession, behind the president and vice-president. Who holds the post shapes how much scrutiny the executive faces on budgets, security and reform.
For Nigerians at home and in the diaspora, Thursday’s show of loyalty is an early sign of how tightly the ruling party intends to manage the balance of power after 2027.