Senate President, Speaker election: 12 things to know

The 9th National Assembly will be inaugurated on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 and Nigerians would have a new Senate President and a new Speaker before close of business on the day.

Pulse will of course be bringing you Live updates from both chambers of the 469-member national assembly all day long, complete with spin-offs and in-depth analyses of what promises to be a dramatic Tuesday, afterwards.

Here is what you should know at the moment and what you should expect tomorrow....

1...Barring a last minute twist in what has been an interesting tale, Sen Ahmad Lawan of Yobe State would become Nigeria’s next Senate President. He will succeed Sen Bukola Saraki whose tenure ended last week.

Senator Ahmad Lawan is favorite to emerge senate president of Nigeria (Daily Post) Pulse Nigeria

2...By a similar token, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila will emerge the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. He will succeed Hon Yakubu Dogara.

3...The governing APC has endorsed Lawan for the office of senate president and Gbajabiamila for the position of speaker.

4...About 61 senators-elect (out of 109) have pledged to vote for Lawan on Tuesday.

5...About 230 Reps (out of 360) have pledged their votes for Gbajabiamila.

Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila is in the frame to emerge Speaker (The Nation) ece-auto-gen

6...The National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC has adopted Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for the position of Deputy Senate President and Hon. Muhammed Idris Wase for the office of Deputy Speaker.

7...The NWC of the APC held emergency meetings from Saturday June 8 to Sunday June 9, 2019 to arrive at these decisions.

8...Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, issued a statement afterwards that read: “All elected APC members of the Senate and House of Representatives are hereby directed to fully mobilize as a united force behind the party’s choice. Members who have earlier signified interests in these positions are urged to support the party’s decisions as loyal and committed members of APC by working with other members to ensure the emergence of the adopted candidates”.

The APC has been working round the clock to ensure that what transpired in the 8th senate in 2015--when senate presidential and speakership candidates who weren't endorsed by the party won their elections--doesn't repeat itself

9...It has also been reported that a chunk of PDP senators-elect have pledged to vote for Lawan.

Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Ovie Omo-Agege, has been adopted Deputy Senate President by APC (Punch) Pulse Nigeria

10...Pulse has learnt that Hon Mohammed Bago is Gbajabiamila’s biggest challenger at the moment while Sen Ali Ndume has refused to step down for Lawan.

11...Recall also that even though Sen Ovie Omo-Agege has been endorsed for the Deputy Senate President office by his party, Sen Orji Uzor Kalu has maintained that he isn’t dropping out of the race for the same position, for anyone.

12...The inauguration and election in both chambers of the national assembly should begin at 10am or thereabouts and last until minutes before midnight. After the clerk finishes with the senate, he would then move on to the House of Reps for inauguration and election of presiding/principal officers.

Nigerian senators during plenary ( Guardian) ece-auto-gen

Asides the consensus candidates, rest assured other unheralded candidates are also tip-toeing in the shadows and ready to break ranks and go against their party's decisions or trample on consensus decisions. It's only normal.