S’West may produce next Deputy Senate President

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.”