BY Fredrick Nwabufo
Bukola Saraki has been returned unopposed as the new senate president.
The former governor of Kwara state was nominated by Sani Yarima, former governor of Zamfara state. Dino Melaye, from Kogi state, seconded his nomination.
As Abubakar Sani, the clerk of the national assembly, called for more nominations and there was none, he declared Bukola the duly elected president of the senate.
Ahmad Lawan, the preferred candidate of the APC, was not nominated.
Out of 108 senators-elect, 57 were present while 51 were absent.
Only 55 senators are needed to choose a senate president.
Some APC senators were reportedly absent owing to their meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
The meeting was said to be going at the same time as the inauguration, hence their failure to nominate Lawan.
TheCable had reported in December 2014 that Saraki was favoured for the position, but his candidature did not go down well with other factions within the APC which considered him as too ambitious.
Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP and Ali Ndume of APC were nominated for the position of deputy senate president and an election had to be held.
The voting was on at the time of reporting.
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