Fred Itua, Abuja
The day is here. The much-awaited election of the Presiding Officers of the National Assembly is about to take off.
At about 12 hours to time, the social media was agog, Monday night that an Abuja Court had ordered that the secret balloting method as stipulated in the Senate standing rule of 2015 be jettisoned for an open ballot method.
However, at 8:30 am on election day, nothing was clear on the method of election as senators-elect awaited the arrival of the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani Omolori.
As early as 7 am, PDP’s adopted candidate and former Senate leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, had already arrived the Senate chamber thereby becoming the first to arrive the Senate.
He was followed by a candidate for the deputy Senate president position, Senator Kabiru Gaya, who reiterated his determination to run against Ovie Omo-Agege, the adopted candidate of the APC.
Gaya also denied knowledge of the court order saying that until proper information came through the right sources, he was not bound by the said court order.
Briefly, immediate-former Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, walked into the chamber. He spent about ten minutes and later came out and walked away from the White House area of the National Assembly where the chambers are located
“I will be back soon,” he told journalists waving. At 8.54 am, he was yet to come back to the National Assembly.
About the same time, the number of senators-elect in chamber had risen quite significantly.
Ahmad Lawan, favoured by the APC, has also arrived. He arrived in company of about 20 senators.