Godswill Akpabio Defeats Yari, swears in as 10th Senate President

Former Minister of Niger Delta and ex-governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, has emerged victorious over Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, the former governor of Zamfara State, in the race for the Senate President position in the 10th Assembly.

Senator Godswill Akpabio had 63 Votes while Senator Abdul Aziz Yari got 46 Votes.

Earlier, voting commenced at exactly 08:45am on Tuesday on a state by state basis, alphabetically and ended at exactly 09:15am.

Akpabio was sworn in at exactly 09:44am.

The nomination of Akpabio for Senate President was put forward by Senator Ali Ndume, who presented a detailed biography of the former governor from Akwa Ibom.

On the other hand, Senator Ishaku Abbo nominated Senator Abdul Aziz Yari for the prestigious role.

It is worth noting that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had designated the South-South region as the rightful holder of the Senate President position in the 10th Assembly, with Senator Godswill Akpabio being their preferred candidate. Additionally, Senator Jubrin Barau from the North West was selected as the favoured candidate for the deputy Senate President position.

However, this designation faced resistance from several lawmakers, with Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari being one of the prominent figures opposing the decision.

Akpabio and Yari are top-ranking chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The former Zamfara governor had before now protested the endorsement of the former minister by the party and asked that the endorsement be reviewed but the APC did not shift ground. The party also anointed Barau Jibrin from the North-West for the office of the Deputy Senate President.

Scores of APC Senators in Yari’s camp had also rejected the party’s position and called for a review of the formula, arguing that the North-West gave the President the highest vote and therefore deserves 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.

Many APC lawmakers had indicated interest to emerge the next Senate President but some of the aspirants stepped down for either Akpabio or Yari.

Recall that in the last National Assembly 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).

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