By Haruna Salami
The move by the leadership of the Senate to amend its Standing Orders 2023 in order to further tighten the procedure for the emergence of presiding officers suffered a major setback on Tuesday when the proposal was presented for consideration.
Trouble began immediately after the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Lola Ashiru (Kwara South), standing in for the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central) laid the proposed amendment before the chamber.
The amendments sought to restructure the order of eligibility for the positions of Senate President and Deputy Senate President at inauguration. Contrary to the existing ranking tradition based strictly on years of legislative experience, the leadership’s draft placed ranking senators in fourth position on the eligibility scale.
The proposed nomination hierarchy read as follows:
Former President of the Senate,
Former Deputy President of the Senate,
Former Principal Officers of the Senate, Returning senators ranked by the number of terms served,
Senators who had previously served in the House of Representatives and
First-time senators (in the absence of categories i–v)
The provision added that the ranking order “shall be strictly adhered to” in nominating Senators to serve as presiding officers.
The proposal immediately met stiff resistance, particularly from Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), one of the most experienced lawmakers in the 10th Senate.
Goje rejected the attempt to classify first-term senators who occupy principal positions — often due to zonal or political allocations — ahead of senators with long legislative service.
He argued that it was “illogical and unfair” to rank a first-timer given a principal office by quota system above a senator serving his fourth term in the Senate.
In response to the strong objection and visible discontent across the chamber, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, advised that the consideration of the amendment be suspended.
Therefore, the proposed amendment was hurriedly stood down for further consultation and to be represented at another legislative day.