Senator Godswill Akpabio has been sworn in as the President of the Senate for the 10th National Assembly.
The former Akwa Ibom governor was returned elected as President of the 10th Senate after scoring 63 votes defeating Senator Abdul’aziz Yari who scored 46 votes.
Earlier, voting commenced at the Red Chamber in Abuja, Nigeria.
Voting begun at exactly 08:45am on Tuesday on a state by state basis, alphabetically and ended at 9:15am
Nominations were received for Senator Abdul’aziz Yari and Senator Godswill Akpabio after which the Clerk of the Senate declared nominations closed in absence of further nominations.
The contest was between Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State and Akpabio, a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and ex-governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Akpabio succeeds Ahmad Lawan as Senate President.
Akpabio and Yari are top-ranking chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The former Zamfara governor had before now protested the endorsement of the former minister by the party and asked that the endorsement be reviewed but the APC did not shift ground. The party also anointed Barau Jibrin from the North-West for the office of the Deputy Senate President.