How Bamidele Emerged Senate Leader

Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, one of the arrowheads of the Godswills Akpabio Senate Presidency, has emerged as the Senate Leader of the 10^th National Assembly.

This was announced by Akapabio on Tuesday who also named other Senate principal officers, including Senator Dave Umahi from Ebonyi State as Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State as Chief Whip, and Senator Lola Ashiru from Kwara State as Deputy Chief Whip.

Bamidele, a former commissioner of Information in Lagos state has been seen around the senate president since the contest for the number three citizens started, not long after the conclusion of the February 28 Presidential and National Assembly election.

A former governorship aspirant in Ekiti state, the senator cut his political teeth in Lagos where he rose to become a commissioner in the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

Recall that Senator Bamidele is among the senators who led Akpabio to Tinubu’s residence in Abuja last month, ahead of the election in the Senate, to solicit his support for him.

Bamidele had opposed the decision of a former governor of Zamfara state, Abdullahi Yari to contest for Senate President on the basis that the former governor is not a ranking member of the upper legislative arm based on the Senate Standing Order.

According to him, “The standing order for the election of presiding officers and the inauguration of a new National Assembly, following the position of section 60 which says that we shall have power to regulate our procedure, the state instituted some rules of engagement which we call, our standing order.

“In Order 3 paragraph 2, I to 3, the Senate standing order and rules 22 as amended is very explicit. It provides for ranking status and identifies three categories of senators for the purpose of the contest of the election of presiding officers.

“Category A, says, returning Senators based on the time that they have been elected. Once you are a Senator, you are a Senator forever. Category B, also mentioned that Senators-elect who have served in the House of Representatives before. Category C are those coming to the Senate for the first time and to the National Assembly for the first time.

He added, “Again for the purpose of being nominated to be a presiding officer these ranking Senators should apply, the first category has the first right of refusal. In other words if you are going to nominate a Senator who is a returning Senator in the event that you have one, it is when such a Senator declines or refuses to accept that nomination or there is no returning Senator that you can move to category B, which is a Senator who has served in the House of Representatives before.

“Again if such a Senator-elect declines or there is no such, then you can resort to Category C, which is a Senator who is coming for the first time. Why did we make these rules? It is because you cannot come to the Senate and for the first time, you haven’t served in the Senate and you don’t even know what the rules are, and you want to be a presiding officer.”

Bamidele is a former President of the University of Benin Students’ Union.