Three days ago, the race for the Presidency of the 10th Senate got hotter with the declaration of Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North) for the plum job. TAIYE ODEWALE in this piece examines his aspiration against those of the other contenders.
The 10th Senate
As periodically provided for by the relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the 10th Senate will be inaugurated in June this year after the expiration of the four-year tenure of the 9th Senate on June 10, 2023, having been inaugurated on Tuesday, June 11, 2019.
At such an inauguration of any session of a new Senate, elections for the post of the two presiding officers are held first. The two presiding officers are the President and Deputy President of the Senate.
Accordingly, ahead of such an inauguration, senators-elect on the platform of any political party with the highest number of seats out of the available 109 seats, contest for any of the two presiding officers’ positions, particularly the Presidency of the Senate.
Membership composition of the 10th Senate across party lines for now
Based on the results from the National Assembly election conducted on Saturday , February 25, 2023, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and an additional one conducted last Saturday, March 18, 2023, for the Enugu-east Senatorial seat, senators on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are 57; their counterparts on the platform of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are 29; those for the Labour Party are seven; New Nigeria Peoples Party ( NNPP ) are two; Social Democratic Party (SDP) has two; All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA ) has one and the Young Progressives Party ( YPP) also has one thus totalling 99 out of 109, remaining 10 Senatorial seats to be decided.
However, since senators elected on the platform of the APC for the 10th Senate are already above the figure of simple majority margin (55) required for anybody who wants to be the president of the Senate to emerge, senators within the fold have started indicating their interests for the position.
Senators-elect in the race
Some of the Senators-elect for the 10th Senate in the race as of now based on declarations to that effect are Jibrin Barau (Kano North); Sani Musa (Niger East); Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North); David Umahi (Ebonyi South), and Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom North-west).
Aside from Senator Jibrin Barau, the four other contenders for the plum job are hinging their aspirations on one sentimental considerations or the other.
While Senators Orji Uzor Kalu, Godswill Akpabio and Governor David Umahi are driving their campaigns on the argument that the position should be occupied by a senator from either the South-east or South-south since the president-elect and the vice-president-elect are from the South-west and North-east zones respectively as well as being of the same religious faith.
Specifically, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu while fielding questions from journalists at the National Assembly Tuesday last week, said: “Since the Muslim-Muslim ticket of our party (APC) has won the Presidency, the position of the Senate President should be given to a Christian from the South, particularly, the South-east.
“It is my turn to be the Senate President based on emerging power configuration within our great party (APC) and based on my personal pedigree. I schooled in Maiduguri, Borno state. I started my business in Lagos and spread it across all state capitals. My first name will be team Nigeria, my middle name will be team Nigeria and last name will be team Nigeria, if elected President of the 10th Senate.”
While contenders from the southern part of the country are using the factor of religion and regionalism to drive their aspirations, geo-political zoning has also been the strongest argument being canvassed by supporters of Senator Sani Musa (Niger East) for the position.
The various groups at different times within the last few weeks even called on the national chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, to resign from office, being a North-central man, to pave the way for the realisation of the aspiration of Senator Sani Musa.
Enter the Jibrin Barau challenge
However, campaign narratives for the position of Presidency of the 10th Senate changed drastically on Wednesday when Senator Jibrin Barau threw his hat into the ring.
Senator Barau, who made his declaration while fielding questions from Senate correspondents on Wednesday this week, said he is the most ranking among all the contestants and most qualified for the job based on experience and knowledge of parliamentary procedures and practices .
He said: “The position of the Senate president is that of experience and competence, not sentiments.
“Legislature is a distinct arm of government that doesn’t work based on sentiments, it works on your ability to get the job done. It is the tradition all over the world and it is also stated there in our rule book and the rules are drafted from our constitutions.
“Our standing rules state that aspirations for elections for the seat of the Senate Presidency shall be in accordance with ranking. Among those who are running for the seat of the Senate Presidency, I am the most ranked senator. So, it’s constitutional for me to run for the position.
“The issue at hand is that of competence and not sentimental considerations. You need to be well grounded in legislative procedures and practices. Remember that during the 6th National Assembly, David Mark, was a Christian, his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, was a Christian and the Speaker of House of Representatives, Patricia Eteh, was also but voted for the positions they were the well experienced and ranking in line with our tradition.”
He added that those pushing for regionalism or geo – political zone considerations, got it wrong as the North-west stands tall and above others in that respect in terms of votes given the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the February 25 presidential election.
“If they are taking geo-political consideration, the zone far above others is the North-west geo-political zone which gave APC the largest chunk of votes in the last presidential election and which must be rewarded accordingly.
“Therefore, sentiments of whatever form should not be used to consider any interested senator for the position, rather competence and knowledge on parliamentary procedures should be the major criteria.”
Bio-graphically, Senator Barau Jibrin was born in 1959, and he is a native of Kabo Township, Kabo local government area, Kano state.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting; Master’s Certificate in Financial Management and Pricing; Master’s Certificate in Management and Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) which he topped with the certificate in Financial Management for Business Decisions from the prestigious Cornell University, United States.
Barau’s passion for his people motivated him to contest election in 1999 to the House of Representatives to represent Tarauni Federal Constituency of Kano state which he won.
While in the House of Representatives, he served as the chairman, Committee on Appropriations. He was also a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Power during that period.
Senator Barau returned to the federal legislature in 2015 by contesting and winning the Kano North Senatorial seat into the 8th Senate on the platform of APC, where he served as the vice-chairman, Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and subsequently the chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund.
On account of his quality and responsive representation, Senator Barau was re-elected into the 9th Senate by the electorate in Kano North Senatorial District in February 2019 and made the chairman, Committee on Appropriations in November of the same year.
His re-election into the 10th Senate stands him out as the man to beat in the contest for the position of Senate President on account of ranking, experience, competence and parliamentary knowledge and procedures.
