Sen. Jibrin Barau,
who represents Kano North Senatorial in the National Assembly has been declared as the most experienced candidate for the 10th Senate Presidency.
Going with the array of candidates who had indicated interest in the position, Barau is described as the most competent to be the 10th Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Senator Barau Jibrin is the Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriation. The Senate Wing of the Legislature is a distinct arm of government that worked on competence.
It doesn’t work on sentiments, it works on competence, capacity and capability to do the job. It is a tradition all over the world.
Competence is part of the parliamentary rules world over and this rule is a product of the Nigerian constitution.
It is clearly stated in the Senate Standing Rules too that aspiration or election for the Office of the Senate President shall be in accordance with ranking.
And among those who are seeking to occupy the office of the Senate President as we speak, Senator Barau have the highest ranking. And he is the most experienced.
The issue at hand is that of competence, you need to be grounded in the procedure of legislation before you are able to be the President of the Senate.
The position of the Senate President was not based on religion. We shouldn’t sacrifice competence at the alter of sentiments.
If we can remember there was a time the Senate President, David Mark, and his Deputy, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu were Christians. At that same time in the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh (a Christian) was the Speaker. This is because they were the most experienced at that time. That is the tradition.
Do we now relegate competence to the background? It is not possible. If you are talking about sentiments, North-West deserves the senate presidency more than any zone in Nigeria.
