Senator Godswill Akpabio, a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, has been elected to lead the Senate of the 10th Assembly.
The election was contested between Sen Godswill Akpabio and Sen Yari Abdulaziz, a senator representing Zamfara Central.
The selection process to choose the red chamber’s leader started at 8:45 am and continued with each state’s representative casting its vote in alphabetical order until its conclusion.
Sen Akpabio polled 63 votes in the election, 17 more than Yari’s 46 to emerge as the winner.
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An election became necessary after both aspirants received multiple nominations from floor members for the office.
Sen Godswill Akpabio was nominated by Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, while Sen Abdulaziz Yari was nominated by Isaku Aboh.
Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State, was keen to lead the Senate ahead of the anointed nominee of the APC National Working Committee, Akpabio, who was also governor of Akwa Ibom between 2007 and 2015.
However, Akpabio became the favourite to lead the Senate after President Bola Tinubu explicitly pointed out the need of having a Christian emerge as the No. 3 citizen.
