The Senate has amended its standing rules on the qualification and eligibility to become a presiding officer, which effectively stops first-term senators from running for the positions of Senate president, deputy Senate president, and other presiding positions.
The amendment, which was made during Tuesday’s legislative proceedings, comes a few months after Senator Abdulaziz Yari, a first-time senator who had previously served in the House of Representatives, contested for the Senate Presidency against Senator Godswill Akoabio, the eventual winner.
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 Nations reports.
The motion was titled “Amendment of the Standing Orders of the Senate under 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 positions of Senate President and Deputy Senate President must have spent a minimum of one term in the Senate.
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.
