- Sen Omo-Agege is deputy
Yobe North Senator, Ahmed Lawan, has been announced as Senate President on Nigeria’s Senate President.
Lawan polled 79 votes to beat his closest rival, Ali Ndume, who garnered 28 votes.
The Election of Senate President was held at the first session of the Senate on Tuesday.
After a secret ballot voting, the clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, announced Lawan’s victory to the cheers of Senators and others in the chamber.
Sani-Omolori said 107 senators cast their votes.
“It is my pleasure to announce that Senator elect, Ahmed Lawan, having scored the highest number of total votes cast is hereby returned duly elected as Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
Lawan, the favoured candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC), was immediately sworn-in by the Clerk of the National Assembly, with Senator Ovie Omo-Agege as his deputy.
His nomination was moved in a motion by Senator Yahaya Abdullahi and seconded by Adeola Olamilaken of Lagos West.
After the emergence of Senator Ahmed Lawan as the Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (APC-Delta Central) and Senator Ike Ekweremadu (PDP-Enugu) were nominated for the office of the Deputy Senate President.
Both candidates contested for the exalted office after which sorting of the 105 votes cast began.
In the end, Omo-Agege emerged with 68 votes against 37 votes for Ekweremadu while one vote was voided and one abstained.
Omo-Agege became the sole candidate of APC following the decision of other APC aspirants to step down.
To the amazement of other APC Senators-elect, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was nominated to vie for the office of the Deputy Senate President which he occupied since 2003.
The nomination came barely 10 minutes after the emergence of Senator Ahmad Lawan as the 9th Senate President
After the conclusion of the election into the two offices, all the Senators-elect including PDP and YPP and APC party stalwarts took turn to congratulate the Senate President Ahmad Lawan and his deputy, Ovie Omo-Agege.
Meanwhile, one of the lawmakers who spoke under the condition of anonymity observed that some PDP Senators-elect gave Omo-Agege sympathy votes in demonstration of their disgust for the former Deputy Senate President’s “overstay in the office.”