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Senator Bukola Saraki from Kwara State
has emerged the Senate President for the 8th Senate. Ike Ekweremadu of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was elected Deputy
Senate President Saraki was returned
unopposed by 57 Senators who attended the inauguration of the 8th Senate today.
He was the only candidate that was
nominated on the floor of the senate as his contender, Senator Ahmad Lawan and
some of his supporters were absent with all the People’s Democratic Party
Senators intact.
His emergence followed his nomination
by former governor of Zamfara state, Sani Yarima, which was seconded by Dino
Melaye from Kogi state.
Clerk of the national assembly,
Abubakar Sani, declared Bukola the duly elected president of the senate after
he called for more nominations and none was forthcoming.
The preferred candidate of the APC,
Ahmad Lawan, was not nominated by anyone as he and other 51 APC Senators
boycotted the inauguration.
The National Assembly at exactly 10:
00am commenced the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly with the reading
of the proclamation letter from President Muhammadu Buhari by the Clerk of the
National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasua for the inauguration.
Consequently, the Deputy Clark of the
Senate read names of Senators alphabetically from Aba State and about 57 were
present.
Earlier the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) had shut every entrance into the National Assembly in apparent
desperation to stop Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara from emerging
as Senate President and Speaker of Representatives respectively.
As early as 6am, the road leading to
the National Assembly had been cordoned off while policemen and soldiers had
been been deployed to stop human and vehicular movement into the premises.
The decision to shut the National
Assembly was the fallout of the adoption of Saraki and Dogara by Peoples
Democratic Party senators-elect as candidates for Senate president and
speakership of the House last night.
While the National Assembly is shut,
President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of APC had scheduled a meeting
with APC lawmakers at the International Conference Centre (ICC) this morning.
The APC Lawmakers are still meeting
at the venue as at the time of filing this report.
The meeting is meant to compel Saraki
or Dogara to step down for the party's candidates. There are fears that the
inauguration of the 8th National Assembly may not hold today if the party fails
to have its way.
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