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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has affirmed the newly introduced two-term eligibility requirement for senators seeking election as presiding officers, reversing aspects of its amended Standing Orders relating to voting procedures during the inauguration of a new Senate.
The clarification by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Adeniyi Adegbomire, followed concerns and media reports suggesting that the upper chamber had completely withdrawn the controversial amendments adopted earlier last week.
Adegbomire also explained that the Senate only reversed the procedural aspect concerning oath-taking before voting, and not the eligibility requirement.
“One of the Orders that was considered was about whether you should take your oath of alliance and membership before elections. The proposal that was passed, among others on Tuesday was that you be sworn in before you can vote. It was just a procedural change,” Adegbomire said.
The rescinded part now states:
“ELECTION OF PRESIDING AND OTHER OFFICERS
Qualification of Presiding Officers.
- (1) A Senator-elect may, before taking the Oaths prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, take part in the election of the President and Deputy President of the Senate.”
He continued, “In the past, you don’t have to be sworn in before you vote for the Senate President and Deputy Senate President and now they said be sworn in first, before election. Members were of the opinion that the constitution says ‘you may’, so that there won’t be any controversy thereafter, we decided to revert to the old Order.”
“The issue of eligibility stays and it is different from what we rescinded,” he added.
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However, Rule 3(3), which was amended and rescinded, remains thus:
“Eligibility of Senators to contest election as Presiding Officer
(3) A Senator shall not be eligible to contest as a Presiding Officer in an election unless he has been elected and served as a Senator for at least two full terms of eight (8) years, one term of which shall immediately precede such election.
(4) A Senator shall not be eligible to be appointed as a Principal Officer of the Senate unless he has served as a Senator for at least a term of four (4) years, which shall immediately precede such an appointment.”
Earlier, while moving the motion for the change during plenary last week, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele explained that the reversal on votong procedure introduced on May 5, 2026, “may give rise to constitutional inconsistencies and unintended tensions” with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, particularly Section 52.
According to him, the Constitution permits senators-elect to participate in the election of presiding officers before taking their oaths of office.
“In other words, Mr President and distinguished colleagues, election of the officers will have to take place, as it had always been, before the swearing-in of senators,” he stated.
The rescinded provision in Order 3(1) had stated that a senator-elect could not participate in Senate proceedings, including voting for the election of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President, until after taking the prescribed oath under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
The amendment had marked a departure from longstanding parliamentary practice, where senators-elect first elect presiding officers under the supervision of the Clerk of the National Assembly before being sworn in.
Other amendments earlier approved by the Senate include changes to sitting hours, committee representation across geopolitical zones, suspension procedures, and the creation of new committees on Livestock Development, Reparations and Repatriations, as well as regional development commissions.
