In the bid to avoid another coup, 10th Assembly Senators and Members-elect arrived at the National Assembly complex on Tuesday 6.30 am today amidst tight security.
Eyewitness account revealed that the lawmakers were conveyed in four coaster buses through the Villa Gate while two others who were conveyed through SGF Gate were also escorted by security guards.
Barring any last-minute change, 469 federal lawmakers will, today, elect four presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued a proclamation letter for the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in line with the 1999 Constitution.
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In the Red Chamber, 109 senators will pick The Senate president and deputy Senate president; while 360 House of Representatives members will elect the House Speaker and deputy speaker.
The race for the Senate presidency and speaker’s seat has been intense, with major contenders intensifying campaigns a few days to the inauguration.
The two contenders for the Senate Presidency are former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio and former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari.
President Tinubu and the APC leadership have picked the duo of Akpabio and Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano North) as preferred candidates for Senate president and deputy, respectively.
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu from Abia State dropped his bid for the Senate presidency and formed an alliance with Yari to contest for the deputy Senate president’s position.
The camps of Akpabio and Yari are each claiming to have secured the support of a majority of senators to win the Senate presidency.
In the House of Representatives, the front runners are Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna), the party’s preferred candidate and Ahmed Wase (Plateau), the immediate former deputy speaker.
Abbas and Benjamin Kalu are favoured by APC for speaker and deputy respectively.
Others still in the speakership race are Aminu Sani Jaji (APC, Zamfara), Sada Soli Jibia (Katsina) and Miriam Onuoha (Anambra).
‘Fight’ over endorsement
Akpabio’s camp yesterday claimed to have secured the endorsement of more senators, including the 15 from the South East, a claim Yari’s group dismissed.
The director-general of Akpabio’s campaign group, Senator Ali Ndume (Borno), said 15 senators-elect from the South East met with Akpabio, where they reportedly endorsed his candidacy.
The Akpabio camp also claimed to have gotten the support of Ahmad Lawan, president of the 9th Senate, who, according to the group, promised to deliver the former Akwa Ibom State governor after meeting with President Tinubu.
Ndume further said former governors from the North and senators-elect, who hitherto refused to support Akpabio, have also made a U-turn.
However, a senator from the South East debunked the claim of Akpabio’s endorsement by the South East Senate Caucus.
The lawmaker said Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, requested a meeting with the senators, and minutes to the parley at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, Akpabio came in.
“He addressed us and requested that we take a group picture with him. Little did we know that he would use the picture as a weapon of propaganda,” he said.
Another South East senator, who urged lawmakers to disregard the purported endorsement, expressed surprise that Akpabio and his supporters were using the group pictures taken at the meeting as propaganda tools.
“Governor Uzodinma set a trap for us by calling us for a meeting and after a while invited Akpabio in to greet us. Yari/Kalu ticket is on course. No going back,” the senator said.
