The Labour Party (LP) has reacted to the outcome of the recently concluded 10th National Assembly leadership elections, which took place in Abuja on Tuesday.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Senator Godswill Akpabio emerged as the President of the Senate, defeating Abdulaziz Yari, the former Governor of Zamfara State, by a margin of 63 votes to 46. Meanwhile, Senator Jibrin Barau secured the position of Deputy Senate President, and Kalu emerged unopposed.

In the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas won the election for the position of Speaker, while Benjamin Kalu was elected as the Deputy Speaker. Abbas, the preferred candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), obtained 353 votes, surpassing his rivals Idris Wase, the former Deputy Speaker, and Aminu Jaji, who each secured three votes.

Reacting, Obiorah Ifoh, the acting National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, expressed his disappointment with the outcome of the national assembly election. He criticised President Bola Tinubu and the ruling party for exerting influence over most Senators and House of Representatives members.

Ifoh emphasised that the President did not allow the members of both chambers to independently choose their leaders, suggesting that the 10th National Assembly may not demonstrate true legislative independence from the executive branch.

He stated, “The proper procedure would have been to allow members of both chambers to elect their leaders, but unfortunately, this was not the case on Tuesday. The APC and Presidency made every effort to manipulate the situation, and they succeeded. Nigerians should not anticipate this Assembly to advocate for any form of legislative independence because the Senate President and the Speaker of the House were handpicked by the Presidency.”