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From Fred Itua, Abuja
A coalition of civil society organisations, the Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN), has praised the Nigerian Senate for amending its Standing Rules to bar first-time senators and returning lawmakers outside the current 10th Senate from contesting principal and presiding officer positions in the 11th National Assembly.
The group, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Chief Rapheal Ikechukwu Okorie in Abuja, described the development as a welcome alignment of Nigeria’s legislative processes with global parliamentary best practices.
According to the coalition, the amendment transcends personal political calculations and reflects a Senate looking beyond its present composition toward the long-term credibility of Nigeria’s legislature.
It cited the United States Congress as a model where experienced lawmakers such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who served in leadership from 2007 to 2025, exemplify the premium placed on legislative experience.
“This is a popular course and will help deepen our nascent democracy. This rule, in our opinion, supersedes any individual ambition and will be sustainable now and in the future”, the coalition said.
The Senate had, following a closed-door session lasting approximately three hours on Tuesday, amended Orders 4 and 5 of its Standing Rules to restrict eligibility for leadership positions in the Red Chamber to senators who served consecutively in the 9th and current 10th Senate and win re-election in 2027.
Presiding offices affected by the amendment include the President of the Senate and the Deputy President of the Senate, while principal offices cover the Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Whip, as well as the Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip.
At the centre of the amendment is a new eligibility clause mandating that any senator aspiring to a presiding office must have served at least two terms — amounting to eight years, with one of those terms being the immediate preceding tenure in the Senate.
Presenting the amendment during plenary, Deputy Senate Leader Oyelola Ashiru, standing in for Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, defended the move as a constitutional exercise anchored on Section 60 of the 1999 Constitution, which grants the Senate authority to regulate its internal procedures.
“A Senator shall not be eligible to contest as a Presiding Officer unless he has been elected and served as a Senator for at least two terms of eight years, one term of which shall immediately precede such election,” Ashiru declared.
The amended Order 4 establishes a clear ranking hierarchy for nominees to presiding offices, listing former Presidents of the Senate, former Deputy Presidents, former principal officers, senators with at least one prior term, members who previously served in the House of Representatives, and, only in the absence of all the foregoing categories, first-time senators.
Order 5 goes further, providing that any senator seeking a principal office must have served for at least two consecutive terms immediately preceding the nomination — a provision that effectively shuts out senators who were not members of both the 9th and the 10th Senate.
Beyond leadership eligibility, the revised rules also stipulate that only sworn-in senators may participate in proceedings, including the election of presiding officers.
The amendments additionally introduce clearer timelines for swearing in absent senators-elect, revised sitting schedules to lift legislative productivity and stricter disciplinary measures for erring lawmakers.
The Senate also moved to strengthen its committee system by ensuring equitable representation across the six geopolitical zones, harmonising committee jurisdictions with those of the House of Representatives and formally recognising newly established committees on livestock development, regional development commissions and reparations.
Ashiru warned that failing to update the Standing Orders would weaken the Senate’s institutional capacity and create procedural uncertainty.
“Convinced that the proposed amendments will promote procedural certainty, enhance inclusiveness, strengthen oversight functions and align the Senate with global best parliamentary practices, the Senate should resolve into the Committee of the Whole to consider and approve the amendments,” he said.
