Senator Godswill Akpabio has been elected the President of the 10th National Assembly.
He trounced Senator Abdul’aziz Yari to emerge the new Senate President on Tuesday.
The former Akwa Ibom governor was returned elected as President of the 10th Senate after scoring 63 votes defeating Senator Yari who scored 46 votes.
Senator Akpabio was subsequently sworn in as the President of the Senate for the 10th National Assembly, succeeding Senator Ahmad Lawan, who is also a member of the 10th Senate.
Meanwhile, Senator Jibrin Barau, who represents Kano North Senatorial District, emerged unopposed as Senate Deputy President, succeeding Ovie Omo-Agege.
Also, a member of the House of Representatives from Zaria Federal Constituency in Kaduna State, Tajudeen Abbas, on Tuesday was elected Speaker of the Green Chamber just as a member representing Bende Federal Constituency in Abia State, Benjamin Kalu emerged the Deputy Speaker of the House for the 10th National Assembly.
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.
Voting ended at exactly 09:15am.
Akpabio was sworn in at exactly 09:44am.
Nominations were received for Senator Yari and Senator 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 and Yari are top-ranking chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The former Zamfara governor had before now protested the endorsement of the 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.
Scores of APC Senators in Yari’s camp had also rejected the party’s position and called for a review of the formula, arguing that the North-West gave the President the highest vote and therefore deserves to be compensated.
Some APC members had entreated Yari to drop his ambition to make it a smooth sail for Akpabio but the former governor vowed to fight to the finish.
In the just-concluded elections, the ruling APC secured about 70 seats in the Red Chamber, the highest by any party followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
Many APC lawmakers had indicated interest to emerge the next Senate President but some of the aspirants stepped down for either Akpabio or Yari.
Akpabio, 60, was trained as a lawyer. The indigene of Ikot Ntuen in the Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State was later appointed as Commissioner by the then Governor Obong Victor Attah in Akwa Ibom State. Between 2002 and 2006, Akpabio was Commissioner of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, as well as Lands and Housing.
He was subsequently elected Akwa Ibom State Governor from 2007 to 2015 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when he won the Senate seat of the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District.
In the Senate in 2015, Akapbio became the Senate Minority Leader, a post he resigned in 2018 after his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In August 2019, then President, Muhammadu Buhari sworn in Akpabio as Minister for Niger Delta Affairs after his screening by the National Assembly.
Akpabio resigned in 2022 when he bought the APC presidential ticket but he would later step down for former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu.
Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team
Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is the team responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing news and feature content on Julian Daily Gist. Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories. We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, and responsibly sourced information.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team researches, writes, edits, and publishes news and feature content covering Nigerian current affairs, entertainment, sports, health, business, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide accurate, timely, and responsibly sourced information and update our reports when credible new information becomes available.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
Team BIo:
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
Editorial Policy:
At Julian Daily Gist, our goal is to provide readers with timely, useful, accurate, and responsibly presented news and information.
We cover Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, human-interest stories, and other topics of interest to our readers.
1. Accuracy and Verification
We make reasonable efforts to ensure that information published on Julian Daily Gist is accurate and presented in its proper context.
Before publishing a report, our editorial team makes reasonable efforts to:
- Check information against credible sources.
- Verify names, dates, locations, figures, and other important details.
- Attribute information to the appropriate source.
- Distinguish confirmed facts from allegations, claims, opinions, and speculation.
- Update stories when credible new information becomes available.
When information cannot be independently verified, we make this clear to readers rather than presenting it as established fact.
2. Sources
We use a range of sources, including:
- Official government statements.
- Police and security agencies.
- Courts and legal documents.
- Government agencies.
- Direct interviews and statements.
- Reputable news organizations.
- Publicly available records.
- Verified social media accounts and statements.
When an article relies substantially on information reported by another publication, we aim to clearly attribute the information to that source.
We do not intentionally present another publication's reporting as our own.
3. Originality
Julian Daily Gist aims to provide original editorial value.
When we report information that has already been published elsewhere, we seek to add value through original writing, context, verification, analysis, additional information, or other useful material.
We do not intentionally copy and republish articles from other websites without appropriate attribution and meaningful editorial contribution.
4. Allegations and Sensitive Claims
When reporting allegations involving individuals or organizations, we make reasonable efforts to clearly identify allegations as allegations.
We avoid presenting unproven accusations as established facts.
Where relevant, we seek or include responses from the person, organization, or representative concerned.
For criminal matters, we recognize that an allegation, arrest, charge, or accusation does not by itself establish guilt.
5. Headlines
Our headlines are intended to accurately reflect the content of our articles.
We aim to avoid deliberately misleading headlines, fabricated claims, or headlines that exaggerate facts simply to generate clicks.
6. Corrections and Updates
We take corrections seriously.
If we discover that an article contains a significant factual error, we may correct or update the article as appropriate.
Readers who identify an error are encouraged to contact us with specific information supporting the correction.
Where appropriate, significant corrections or updates may be noted within the article.
7. Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are made independently of advertisers, sponsors, commercial partners, and other external interests.
Advertising or sponsorship does not automatically influence our editorial decisions or the opinions expressed by our writers.
8. Sponsored and Promotional Content
Where Julian Daily Gist publishes sponsored, paid, or promotional content, we aim to clearly identify it as such.
Sponsored content does not necessarily represent the independent editorial views of Julian Daily Gist.
9. Conflicts of Interest
Our editorial team should avoid situations where personal, financial, or other interests could improperly influence reporting.
Where a relevant conflict of interest exists, we aim to disclose it when appropriate.
10. Use of Images and Other Media
We aim to use images, videos, graphics, and other media responsibly and with appropriate permission, licensing, attribution, or other lawful basis where required.
We do not knowingly use copyrighted material in a manner that infringes the rights of its owner.
If you believe that material published on Julian Daily Gist infringes your copyright, please contact us so that we can review the matter.
11. Artificial Intelligence
We may use technology and artificial intelligence tools to assist with certain editorial tasks, such as research support, proofreading, formatting, transcription, or drafting assistance.
However, AI-generated information is not treated as automatically accurate. Content remains subject to human review, editing, fact-checking, and editorial judgment before publication where appropriate.
We do not intentionally publish fabricated information generated by AI.
12. Privacy and Personal Information
We take reasonable care when handling personal information and avoid publishing unnecessary private information about individuals.
Sensitive personal information is published only when there is a legitimate public-interest reason and where appropriate.
Our handling of visitor information is explained in our Privacy Policy.
13. Opinion and Commentary
Opinion articles and commentary represent the views expressed by the respective writer or contributor.
Where appropriate, opinion content will be identified as commentary, analysis, or opinion so that readers can distinguish it from straightforward news reporting.
14. User-Generated Content
Comments and other material submitted by readers may be moderated.
We reserve the right to remove content that is unlawful, defamatory, abusive, discriminatory, misleading, threatening, spam-related, or otherwise inappropriate.
User comments do not necessarily represent the views of Julian Daily Gist.
15. Our Commitment
We are committed to improving the quality, accuracy, transparency, and usefulness of Julian Daily Gist.
As our publication grows, we will continue reviewing our editorial practices and updating this policy when necessary.
16. Contact and Corrections
If you have a correction, clarification, complaint, copyright concern, or question about our editorial practices, please contact us through our Contact Us page.
