- Furore Over Amendment To Senate Standing Orders
CHUKWU DAVID reports on the early scheming in the Senate for leadership positions in the 11th Senate, following amendments on some provisions of the Senate Standing Orders
The 10th Senate witnessed serious tension and rancour last week, following what is generally seen as controversial and self-serving amendments on some provisions of the Senate Standing Orders, particularly as it affects eligibility requirements to contest for presiding officer positions in the 11th Senate. The Senate had on May 5, amended its Standing Rules to restrict eligibility for presiding and principal officer positions.
The Red Chamber amended Orders 4 and 5 of the Senate Standing Orders to require that any senator seeking to become the Senate President or Deputy Senate President must have served at least two consecutive terms (eight years of continuous service). Under the new rule, only senators who served in both the 9th and 10th Assemblies will be eligible when the 11th Assembly convenes in June 2027.
In previous assemblies, the requirement for one to qualify for the presiding officer position was just a four-year term. The recent amendment also formalises a strict hierarchy for nominations under Order 4, with the order of priority as: former Senate presidents, followed by former Senate deputy presidents, then former principal officers such as Senate leader and chief whip, among others. Next are senators with at least one full term, followed by ex-House of Representatives members. Only if none of these categories are available will first-time senators be considered. This move consolidates influence within the ranks of ranking lawmakers and leaves little room for newcomers to break into leadership.
The two-term clause also excludes high-profile senators-elect who were not in the 9th and 10th Senate, including the current Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma; former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole and Kabiru Marafa, among other prospective contestants in the 11th Senate. Uzodimma, Marafa and Oshiomhole, among others are set to return to the Senate in 2027, and rumoured to be positioning themselves for leadership roles, but will not meet the new eligibility threshold passed by the Senate in its contentious amendment.
We should not come into this chamber, especially on matters as serious as contested elections, without a proper understanding of the rules
Under the Senate Standing Orders, Presiding officers refer to the Senate President and Senate Deputy President, while Principal Officers nclude the Senate Leader, Deputy Leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Whip, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip, and Deputy Minority Whip.
The amendment process, therefore, sparked a heated exchange on Wednesday between the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and Senator Oshiomhole during the adoption of Votes and Proceedings from Tuesday’s sitting, with Akpabio threatening to invoke the rules of the Chamber to send Oshiomhole out of the chamber for attempting to disrupt the day’s proceedings. Friction between the duo started, when Oshiomhole made several attempts to raise a point of order while Akpabio called for the adoption of the Votes and Proceedings of the previous legislative day.
As Oshiomhole desperately and repeatedly shouted “point of order, Akpabio deliberately ignored the Edo North senator, prompting an already aggrieved Oshiomhole to attempt to insist on having his way by raising his voice progressively and shouting “point of order.”
Obviously infuriated by Oshiomhole’s seeming unruly behaviour, Akpabio lost his temper and called on Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who is a former Chief Whip of the Senate, to guide Oshiomhole on the Senate’s Standing Rules pertaining to conduct during plenary.
Kalu did as directed but that did not persuade Oshiomhole to calm down. At this point, Akpabio cautioned the former Edo State governor, stating: “If you are a soldier, you behave like a soldier; if you are a police officer, you behave like a police officer. So, if you are a senator, you must go by the rules.”
After repeated warnings, the President of the Senate subsequently ruled Oshiomhole out of order. “Senator Oshiomhole, you are ruled out of order,” he said as he hit the gavel on the table. Despite the ruling, Oshiomhole continued to speak from his seat, insisting on being recognised, prompting the Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno, to also intervene by warning Oshiomhole of a possible disciplinary action. “Senator Oshiomhole, be guided, otherwise, I will invoke the powers of the office of the Chief Whip against you,” Monguno cautioned.
When Oshiomhole attempted to defy the intervention of the Chief Whip, Akpabio got more infuriated, warning the former Edo State governor and citing Senate rules regulating conduct in the chamber, which he threatened to invoke and apply discipline on any offender. His words: “The rules and laws governing the Senate chamber, including its corridors and passages, are clearly defined.
The Senate president is empowered to sign warrants, subpoenas, resolutions and other official documents issued by order of the Senate. “He is also responsible for ensuring adherence to the rules of debate. Let me be clear, many people may not have seen this order, which is why I am reading it out.
The Senate president is tasked with maintaining order during debates and giving rulings on points of constitutional order when they are raised. “He also has a casting vote in the event of a tie, but does not vote in any other circumstance. Most importantly, he has the authority to interpret the rules. This is clearly stated. So, we should not come into this chamber, especially on matters as serious as contested elections, without a proper understanding of the rules.
“Let me emphasize once again, Senator Oshiomhole, if any member becomes unruly in the Senate, that member would be asked to leave.” The tense exchange between Akpabio and Oshiomhole was obviously a continuation of an earlier clash between the duo on Tuesday, following an amendment to the Senate Standing Orders, particularly the areas pertaining to election of presiding officers of the Senate in the 11th Assembly.
Onyewuchi warns against predetermined leadership
Following the contentious amendment and raging controversy therefrom, Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi, representing Imo East Senatorial District, on Thursday, warned the Akpabio-led Senate against initiating a process that will lead to emergence of a predetermined leadership of the 11th Senate.
The senator, who addressed journalists before commencement of plenary, vowed to move a motion seeking to rescind the controversial amendment, describing the action of the Senate on Tuesday as “self-serving,” unconstitutional and a dangerous attempt to impose a predetermined leadership structure on the next Assembly.
Onyewuchi said that the decision of the Senate to restrict eligibility for the offices of Senate president, Senate deputy president and other key positions to only ranking lawmakers returning from the current 10th Senate violates the nation’s constitutional provisions.
He noted that he would formally present a motion immediately after plenary last Thursday, seeking the reversal of the controversial amendment adopted by the Senate on Tuesday after a prolonged executive session that lasted over three hours.
“I think clearly this issue should be revisited. I am formally going to bring a motion to rescind this decision of the Senate for the common good. Immediately after plenary today, I will bring a formal motion in that respect,” Onyewuchi said. He argued that the Senate exceeded its constitutional authority by introducing qualifications not contemplated by the 1999 Constitution, saying: “That’s a contentious issue, which is the amendment to the Senate rules.
We tried to address it and air our views, but some of those views were diluted by the cacophony of voices because of the contentious nature of the matter.” According to him, section 50 of the Constitution clearly stipulates that presiding officers of the Senate shall be elected by members from among themselves without imposing additional conditions. “Section 50 of the Nigerian Constitution is clear on this. It says there shall be a president and deputy president of the Senate who shall be elected by members from among themselves.
It did not set further criteria. So, any other criteria set outside this, that is in conflict with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to that extent, is null and void,” Onyewuchi maintained. The senator further maintained that although section 60 of the Constitution empowers the Senate to regulate its internal procedures, such powers could not be stretched to alter constitutional qualifications for elective offices within the chamber.
“The Senate is relying on section 60 of the Constitution that gives the Senate powers to regulate its internal procedure. But for me, the procedure we are talking about should be for the effective running of the Senate. It should relate to how bills are handled, oversight functions carried out and how erring members are disciplined, not on fundamental issues that are inconsistent with the constitution,” he argued.
Senate rescinds amendment on oath taking
As agitations and public criticisms trailed the amendment to portions of the Senate Standing Orders, the Senate on Thursday, resolved and rescinded portions of the amended rules that gave powers to the Clerk to the National Assembly to swear-in all newly elected senators as against the practice whereby he only swears in a newly elected Senate president and his deputy, and then the newly elected Senate president swears-in the rest of the Senators-elect.
The reversal followed a motion moved by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele during plenary. In his motion, Bamidele pointed out that aspects of the amendments to Orders 2(2) and 3(1) of the Senate Standing Orders 2026 are inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended, particularly section 52 dealing with the election of presiding officers before the swearing-in of lawmakers.
The Senate leader cited constitutional provisions extensively, noting that Senators-elect are constitutionally permitted to participate in the election of presiding officers before taking their oaths of office.
The procedure we are talking about should be for the effective running of the Senate. It should relate to how bills are handled, oversight functions carried out and how erring members are disciplined not on fundamental issues that are inconsistent with the constitution
“Election of the officers will have to take place, as it had always been, before the swearing-in of senators,” he said. He added that the Senate, upon “further legislative and constitutional review,” discovered that the amended rules could create “constitutional inconsistencies and unintended tensions” with the provisions of the constitution. He stressed that the Senate possessed the inherent authority to revisit and rescind any previous decision in order to preserve the integrity of its legislative framework.
Consequently, the Senate adopted his motion through a voice vote after Akpabio ruled that there was no need for prolonged debate on the matter. “This is a very straightforward motion. It is just for us to go in conformity with the constitution. I thank the Leader for being observant and up to the game as Leader of the Senate by making this observation,” the Senate president said.
Senate leader frowns at Oshiomhole’s action
Shortly after the motion was adopted, Oshiomhole rose on a point of order and faulted the manner in which the amendment and subsequent reversal were handled, warning against what he described as hasty lawmaking without adequate consultation and debate among lawmakers.
He said: “I believe the average age in this Senate is over 40, so we don’t have an excuse for youthful exuberance. When we are making a law, we should accommodate diverse views. That way, what one person forgot, the other person will remember. The only point I want to make is that next time, we should allow debate.”
Although Akpabio initially reminded Oshiomhole that the matter had already been concluded and that it was against Senate rules to reopen it, he nevertheless exercised his discretion to allow the senator to speak. However, Bamidele, who was very displeased by Oshiomhole’s intervention, expressed serious disappointment over what he described as recurring “drama” capable of damaging the image of the Senate. He said: “Yesterday, I saw the kind of drama that went on.
It was unnecessary. But the unfortunate thing about that drama was that regardless of what was done in this hallowed chamber, what became the news out of this chamber was that unnecessary drama.
We are not going to allow this to continue.” The Senate leader insisted that if Oshiomhole or any senator disagreed with the amendments, the proper parliamentary procedure was to file a substantive motion for a reversal rather than engage in public confrontation on the floor.
“If Senator Oshiomhole had any problem with the decisions that were taken with respect to the amendment two days ago, what he was expected to do was to bring a substantive motion for a decision to be debated on the floor of this parliament. We cannot allow this kind of drama to go on in the Senate.
We must put a stop to it,” he said. Supporting Bamidele’s position, Akpabio ruled that any senator dissatisfied with Senate decisions must follow laid-down parliamentary procedures by introducing substantive motions rather than disrupting proceedings through points of order. The Senate Standing Orders serve as the primary rules governing the conduct and proceedings of the upper legislative chamber.
Oshiomhole calls for Akpabio’s resignation
Reacting to the rescission of the portions of the Senate Standing Rules, Oshiomhole criticised the original process, describing it as rushed and flawed. “The way we rushed the rules because certain people wanted certain things concluded is the flaw in this process. Next time, we should allow for proper debate,” he said.
While addressing journalists earlier before rescinding the amendments, Oshiomhole argued that Akpabio should resign if the National Assembly adopts the rule requiring senators to serve at least two consecutive terms before qualifying for the office of Senate president.
Describing the move as morally flawed and self-serving, he argued that Akpabio himself would not meet such a requirement based on his own time in the Senate. “If we pass the rules that you must do eight consecutive years before you can be Senate president, it means he (Akpabio) has to lead by example, by vacating, because he’s presiding without acquiring the appropriate qualification,” Oshiomhole said.
He also warned against altering legislative rules to serve personal or political interests, insisting that leadership positions should not be manipulated to narrow competition. Referencing former Senate president, David Mark, Oshiomhole argued that previous leaders attained their positions without changing rules to secure advantage.
