Senators Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti) and Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) will slug it out for the position of Senate Leader as the upper legislative chamber reconvenes on Tuesday after the Eid-el Kabir holiday.
The Senate on resumption, is expected to commence electing its principal officers.
The lawmakers were among the arrowheads of Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s campaign for the Senate presidency.
Ndume served as the Director-General of Akpabio’s campaign committee, Bamidele was the deputy.
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which has the largest number of members will produce the majority leader while the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will produce the minority leader.
The APC has 59 senators while the main opposition PDP has 36 members; Labour Party, LP – eight; Social Democratic Party, SDP – two; New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP also has two members while the Young Peoples Party, YPP, and All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, both have one member each.
The ruling APC and the minority caucus are also expected to fill the vacant eight principal positions.
While APC is expected to produce the majority leader, deputy majority leader, chief whip and deputy chief whip, the four principal positions reserved for the minority caucus are minority leader, deputy minority leader, minority whip and deputy minority whip.
PDP, being the major opposition party, is expected to produce the minority leader, deputy leader, minority whip and deputy minority whip.
Nominations for the positions are purely the affairs of political parties with the majority of seats in the Senate.