Kano senator asks colleagues to elect Lawan as next senate president

Barau Jibrin, senator representing Kano north, has asked his colleagues to elect Ahmed Lawan, majority leader, as next senate presiden...

Barau Jibrin, senator representing Kano north, has asked his colleagues to elect Ahmed Lawan, majority leader, as next senate president.

In a statement on Thursday, the senator said Lawan is qualified to preside over the next senate being the most experienced lawmaker in the red chamber, having spent 20 years in the national assembly.

Jibrin urged the senators to follow established international parliamentary practice in electing the leader of the majority party caucus in the chamber.

With the loss of Senate President Bukola Saraki at the February 23 election, the 9th senate to be inaugurated in June would conduct an election for the seat of the senate president.

"The 9th Senate would soon be inaugurated and a new set of presiding officers will be elected. Most importantly, the position of the President of the Senate," Jibrin said.

"I need not take you through the story of the rancorous way the election was handled in 2015 during the inauguration of the 8th Senate and the resultant effect but suffice to say that it is now a golden opportunity for all and sundry to facilitate the election of the Senate President using the template of the established international parliamentary practice.

"In parliaments all over the world, presiding officers of assemblies are elected based on their experiences as leaders of the caucuses of the various assemblies. Thus, when a party secures a majority after a general election into an assembly, the leader of the caucus of such a party in the assembly transforms to be the President or Speaker of such an assembly in a process devoid of any rancour. The practice is adopted because of the precept of the more you stay in the assembly, the more experienced you are.

"Hence,the president of the 9th Senate should be Sen.Ahmed Lawan from Yobe State as he is the leader of the APC Caucus in the current 8th Senate."

Jibrin said another reason why Lawan must emerge the next senate president is that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) got its second highest votes from the north-east, where Lawan comes from.