Senate of Nigeria

Senate
Senate
9th National Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house of the National Assembly of Nigeria
Leadership
President of the Senate	Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, APC ; since June 11, 2019
Deputy President of the Senate	Ovie Omo-Agege, APC ; since June 11, 2019
Majority Leader	Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi, APC ; since July 2, 2019
Minority Leader	Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP ; since July 2, 2019
Structure
Seats	109
Political groups	Majority (69) All Progressives Congress (69); Minority (39) People's Democratic Party (39); Others (1) Young Progressives Party (1);
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post voting
Last election	23-24 February 2019
Next election	18 February 2023
Meeting place
	Abuja
Website
	nass.gov.ng

The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly of Nigeria. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's highest legislature, whose power is to make laws, is summarized in chapter one, section four of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. It consists of 109 senators: the 36 states are each divided in 3 senatorial districts each electing one senator using the first-past-the-post electoral system; the Federal Capital Territory elects only one senator also using first-past-the-post.^[1]^[2]

The President of the Senate is the presiding officer of the Senate, whose chief function is to guide and regulate the proceedings in the Senate. The Senate President is third in the Nigerian presidential line of succession. He is assisted by the Deputy President of the Senate. The current Senate President is Sen. Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan and the current Deputy Senate President is Ovie Omo-Agege, both members of the APC.^[3] The Senate President and his Deputy are also assisted by principal officers including the Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip, Minority Whip, and Deputy Minority Whip. In addition, there are 63 Standing Committees in the Senate chaired by Committee Chairmen.^[4]

The lower chamber is the House of Representatives.

State Delegations[]

Functions of the Senate[]

Legislation[]

Bills may be introduced in either chamber of the National Assembly.^[5]

Checks and Balances[]

The constitution provides several unique functions for the Senate that form its ability to "check and balance" other elements of the Federal Government of Nigeria. ^[6] ^[7] These include the requirement that the Senate may advise and must consent to some of the President's government appointments; also the Senate must consent to all treaties with foreign governments and it tries all impeachments.

Majority and minority parties[]

The "Majority party" is the party that either has a majority of seats or can form a coalition or caucus with a majority of seats; if two or more parties are tied the Senate President's affiliation determines which party becomes the majority party. The second largest party is the Minority party.

Term[]

Senators are to serve a term of four years until a General election. Senators have unlimited tenure^[8] and can remain in the chamber for as long as they are re-elected in general elections.

References[]

^ Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Administration". Retrieved 7 August 2018.
^ Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "History And Roles". Retrieved 7 August 2018.
^ Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Principal Officers of The Senate". Retrieved 7 August 2018.
^ Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Find a Committee". Retrieved 7 August 2018.
^ Article 58 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999)
^ Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Senate Constitutional Role". Retrieved 7 August 2018.
^ Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Senate Constitutional Role". Retrieved 7 August 2018.
^ "Pardoned for Senate". 7 August 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2017.

External links[]

Official website
Map of Nigeria States' Senatorial Districts (Each Nigerian state has 3 senatorial districts.)

[1] Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Administration". Retrieved 7 August 2018.

[2] Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "History And Roles". Retrieved 7 August 2018.

[3] Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Principal Officers of The Senate". Retrieved 7 August 2018.

[4] Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Find a Committee". Retrieved 7 August 2018.

[5] Article 58 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999)

[6] Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Senate Constitutional Role". Retrieved 7 August 2018.

[7] Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly. "Senate Constitutional Role". Retrieved 7 August 2018.

[8] "Pardoned for Senate". 7 August 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2017.

[9] Abbo was elected as a member of the PDP but switched to the APC in November 2020.

[10] The PDP's Ekpenyong was elected Senator in 2019 but a Court of Appeal partially annulled the results and called a supplementary election in the affected areas. Ekpenyong won the ensuing rerun election and was sworn-in again in January 2020.

[11] Oduah was elected as a member of the PDP but switched to the APC in August 2021.

[12] The PDP's Douye Diri was elected Senator in 2019 but resigned in February 2020 after winning election to become Bayelsa State Governor. Cleopas won the ensuing bye-election and took office in December 2020.

[13] The PDP's Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo was elected Senator in 2019 but resigned in February 2020 after winning election to become Bayelsa State Deputy Governor. Dickson won the ensuing bye-election and took office in December 2020.

[14] The PDP's Rose Okoji Oko was elected Senator in 2019 but died in March 2020. Jarigbe and fellow PDP member Stephen Odey fought in court over the ensuing by-election's PDP nomination; Odey won both initial court decisions and the by-election before taking office late in December 2020. However, Jarigbe later won several court challenges which declared him the legitimate PDP nominee and thus Senator. Jarigbe took office in September 2021.

[15] Nwaoboshi was elected as a member of the PDP but switched to the APC in June 2021.

[16] The APC's Adebayo Clement Adeyeye was elected Senator in 2019 but the NASS Election Petition Tribunal awarded and Court of Appeal affirmed the win to Olujimi. She took office in November 2019.

[17] Due to disputes over alleged irregularities, the APC's Benjamin Uwajumogu was not sworn in until July 2019. Uwajumogu died in December 2019 leading to a bye-election. After disputes, Ibezim was awarded the bye-election victory and took office in April 2021.

[18] Due to disputes over the alleged forced declaration of his election, Okorocha was not sworn in until June 14, 2019.

[19] The PDP's Dino Melaye was elected Senator in 2019 but Adeyemi petitioned against the results and the NASS Election Petition Tribunal annulled the results and called a new election. Adeyemi won the ensuing rerun election and took office in December 2019.

[20] The APC's Adebayo Osinowo was elected Senator in 2019 but died in June 2020. Abiru won the ensuing bye-election and took office in December 2020.

[21] The APC's David Umaru was elected Senator in 2019 but the Supreme Court awarded the APC primary win to Musa making him Senator. He took office in July 2019.

[22] The APC's Ignatius Datong Longjan was elected Senator in 2019 but died in February 2020. Daduut won the ensuing bye-election and took office in December 2020.

[23] The APC's was elected Senator in 2019 but a Court of Appeal awarded the win to Danbaba. He took office in November 2019.

[fnZamfara-24] Prior to inauguration, the APC's Zamfara votes were voided due to improper holding of party primaries. Thus the PDP runners-up took office. All three (Anka, Gusau, Yaú) switched to the APC in June 2021.

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Senate
9th National Assembly

Type
Type	Upper house of the National Assembly of Nigeria
Leadership
President of the Senate	Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, APC since June 11, 2019
Deputy President of the Senate	Ovie Omo-Agege, APC since June 11, 2019
Majority Leader	Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi, APC since July 2, 2019
Minority Leader	Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP since July 2, 2019
Structure
Seats	109

Political groups	Majority (69) All Progressives Congress (69) Minority (39) People's Democratic Party (39) Others (1) Young Progressives Party (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post voting
Last election	23-24 February 2019
Next election	18 February 2023
Meeting place

Abuja
Website
nass.gov.ng

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