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From Fred Itua, Abuja
A contender for the Senate Presidency, Senator Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano), has hosted over 70 senators-elect, for them to form the needed bond and friendships, among themselves, ahead of the inauguration of the parliament.
It was learnt that over 70 senators-elect attended the luncheon held at the NICON Hotel, Abuja on Tuesday. The meeting was held after the presentation of certificates of return to the lawmakers.
No fewer than 98 out of 109 senators were given certificates of return by the national commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on Tuesday.
A total of seven political parties won senatorial seats with APC topping the chat with 57 seats.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won 29 seats; Labour Party won six; New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) won two; Social Democratic Party (SDP) also won two; the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Young Peoples Party (YPP) won one each.
The meeting, which lasted for over an hour, saw Barau, a third-timer at the upper chamber and fourth-timer at the National Assembly, having served at the House of Representatives (1999-2003), setting up the move that will allow the senators-elect to begin to form the needed bond amongst themselves to make the 10th Senate very successful.
A senator-elect, who attended the meeting, said the attendance was not limited to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He said senators-elect who are members of other political parties attended the party.
“As a second timer at the red chamber, I know Barau because I have interacted with him previously. He has a thorough understanding of parliamentary proceedings and he is an easy-going fellow. He has my vote come June when the 10th assembly will be inaugurated,” the lawmaker, who is from the southern part of the country said.
Also speaking, a Senator-elect from the South South zone, who is going to the Senate for the first time, confided to our reporter that, “Senator Barau will surely have my vote for the Senate Presidency, he is a fantastic lawmaker with good leadership qualities. He has been supportive of us from when he was elected to serve as the chairman of the APC Senatorial candidates forum to date.”
An aide of the lawmaker said Senator Barau, who currently chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations, organised the event to enable him to interact with his colleagues.
” It was to enable him to interact and familiarise himself with his colleagues and nothing more, ” he said.
After swearing in on May 29, the new president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will in the second week of his tenure, June, transmit a proclamation letter to the National Assembly to terminate the Ninth Assembly and kick-start the 10th Assembly. This will give room for the emergence of new presiding officers for the legislature.
