The result of the National Assembly election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday has confirmed the opposition All Progressives Congress as majority party in the 109 membership Senate.
Since the advent of democracy in 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party has enjoyed the majority status in the upper chamber. In the out-going dispensation, PDP dominates with 64 members while the APC has 41. The remaining 5 seats is shared among Labour Party, the Accord Party and the Social Democratic Party.
With the just concluded National Assembly election, APC will become the top dog in the senate with 64 seats to the PDP’s 45. The Labour Party has one seat. This development will definitely alter the configuration of the Senate leadership in the 8th Senate which would be inaugurated in June this year, because the opposition APC which is currently in the minority would constitute the principal officers.
The current Senate President, David Mark who is returning to the Senate for the fifth time, will lose his seat to an APC member while the change in gear will also affect other principal officers like the Deputy Senate President, Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Chief Whip; and Deputy Chief Whip.
The current configuration is set to automatically transform the status of the APC members, especially the principal officers from minority to the majority. It is anticipated that the Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, may likely emerge the new senate president if his emergence will conform with the sharing formula that the APC adopts.
