The politics of who becomes the senate president of the 10th Assembly has come and gone.
After the election of the presiding officers, the next is the selection of people that will be the principal officers at the Senate.
The principal officers include: the majority leader, deputy majority leader, minority leader, deputy minority leader, chief whip, deputy chief whip, minority whip and deputy minority whip.
All these offices are recommended by political parties but the senate president and the deputy senate president can influence the emergence of these officers since they will need competent hands to work with.
Many political pundits are suggesting that Sen Ali Ndume, one of the longest serving lawmakers in the history of Nigeria, should be the senate leader of the 10th Assembly.
In the US parliament, offices are shared based on ranking and for those who have stayed in the parliament for a long time.
Ndume is in that category since the immediate past senate president, Ahmad Lawan, is the only person in the class of Ndume in the ruling party.
Born in 1959, Ndume was in the House of Representatives until 2011 when he was elected to the Senate to represent Borno South.
Ndume was the senate majority leader after the 2016 elections but was later removed during plenary after he stepped out of the chamber to pray.
Ndume later contested for the office of the senate president on June 11, 2019. He had declared for the contest in 2023 but stepped down for Akpabio when the party zoned the office of the senate president to the South South.
Ndume was Akpabio’s campaign director-general and travelled with him to all the states of the federation and victory has come. Analysts say the only way the senate president, Godswill Akpabio and the party can compensate Ndume is to support him for the office of the majority leader.
They argue that Ndume is eminently qualified by ranking, experience and hardwork.
Ndume, who has received several awards including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Dreams African Leadership Excellence Award, Diplomatic Award for Iconic Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals Ambassador Award, Parliamentary Media Award for Leadership, among others, is seen as a man who will be the stabiliser of the 10th Senate.
