Senate rules and the leadership chessboard

By Adesuwa Tsan , Abuja
The amendment of the Senate Standing Orders last week may have been presented as just another routine legislative housekeeping exercise, but inside the Red Chamber, few senators were under any illusion about what was truly at stake. They understood the changes were about power, about a bid to control the 11th assembly. Indeed, the amendments turned the Senate rules into a leadership chessboard ahead of 2027.
But while the lawmakers were very clear on this, confusion built-up in the public on what the amendments meant. As reports emerged that senators-elect would be prevented from voting for presiding officers before taking their oath of office, the deeper sig...