By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
As controversy over the amendment of Senate Standing Rules rages on, the Senate, on Thursday, rescinded it’s amendment that barred first-time Senators from contesting presiding offices, reopening the 2027 race for Senate President and Deputy Senate President.<\/p>\n
The reversal was adopted following a motion sponsored by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, and presided over by Deputy President of the Senate, Jubrin Barau.<\/p>\n
The motion which he presented before the Chamber for consideration and approval is titled: “Recession and Re-Committal of Order 2 (2) and Order 3(1) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2023, as amended”.<\/p>\n
Presenting the motion, the Leader said: “The Senate recalls that the Senate Standing Orders were considered and amended on Tuesday, 5th May, 2026;<\/p>\n
“The Senate observes that upon further legislative and constitutional review, certain provisions introduced under Order 2(2) and Order 3(1) may give rise to constitutional inconsistencies and unintended tensions with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), particularly Section 52 thereof;<\/p>\n
“The Senate notes that it is necessary to ensure that the Standing Orders of the Senate remain fully consistent with constitutional provisions, established parliamentary conventions, and legislative practice;<\/p>\n
“Further notes that the Senate possesses the inherent parliamentary authority to revisit, rescind, and recommit any matter previously decided upon in order to preserve the integrity of its proceedings and legislative framework;<\/p>\n
“The Senate accordingly resolves to rescind its earlier decisions relating to the amendments made to Order 2(2) and Order 3(1) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2026”.<\/p>\n
The earlier amendment on Tuesday required any Senator seeking to contest for presiding or principal offices to have served in the Senate for two consecutive terms, totalling eight years.<\/p>\n
The provision effectively disqualified newly elected Senators and those returning after a break, limiting eligibility to a small group of ranking lawmakers, a development that sparked agitation in the Chamber.<\/p>\n
The rule had attracted criticism from the public, potential victims describing it as an attempt to exclude influential political figures expected to enter the Senate in 2027, including outgoing governors and former ministers.<\/p>\n
Critics argued that the amendment reduced democratic choice and entrenched a closed caucus, while supporters maintained that it would ensure experienced leadership in the Senate.<\/p>\n
With the removal of the rule, the leadership contest for the 11th National Assembly is now open to all elected Senators, regardless of tenure.<\/p>\n
The decision is particularly significant for figures such as Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who is expected to seek a Senate seat in 2027 despite not completing a second term as governor.<\/p>\n
The reversal also reflects a shift within the ruling party toward a more competitive and inclusive process for selecting the next Senate leadership, instead of determining eligibility through tenure restrictions.<\/p>\n
The media space was awash with speculation that the amendment was done following the rumour that former Senators Hope Uzodimma, Ifeanyi Okowa and Ovie Omo-Agege were considering a return to the Red Chamber and would possibly bid for the Senate presidency in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke As controversy over the amendment of Senate Standing Rules rages on, the Senate, on Thursday, rescinded it’s amendment that barred first-time Senators from contesting presiding offices, reopening the 2027 race for Senate President and Deputy Senate President. The reversal was adopted following a motion sponsored by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, and presided […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13421,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13420\/revisions\/13421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}