Senate bars first-term senators from contesting for Senate president, deputy

Senate bars first-term senators from contesting for Senate president, deputy

The Senate revised its standing orders on Tuesday, October 3, effectively prohibiting first-term senators from running for Senate president and deputy Senate president.

The Senate made this decision just a few months after Senator Abdulaziz Yari, a first-term senator who previously served in the House of Representatives, ran for Senate president against Senator Godswill Akpabio.

With the new amendment to the standing orders of the Senate, first-term senators are now excluded from those qualified or eligible to contest for the position of presiding officers of the Red Chambers.

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The amendment of rule 3(2) (1-3) of the Senate Standing Orders followed a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC – Ekiti Central).

The motion was titled: “Amendment of the Standing Orders of the Senate pursuant to Order 109 of the Senate Standing Orders, 2022 (As Amended).”

Rule 3 of the Senate Standing Orders as amended now stipulates that any senator wishing to contest for the position of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President must have spent a minimum of one term in the senate.

The Senate also amended its rules and created an additional nine Standing Committees.

The Senate presently has 74 Standing Committees.

Senate bars first-term senators from contesting for Senate president, deputy