Southern senators elect Abiru as forum’s chair

Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (APC Lagos East) has been elected chairman of the Southern Senators’ Forum, nine months after the inauguration of the 10th Senate.

The senators met at the conference room of the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC Ekiti Central), on Wednesday in Abuja, where they appointed Abiru and five other executive members to run the forum.

Others elected are Senators Victor Umeh (Labour Party, Anambra Central) as Vice Chairman, Mpigi Barinada (PDP Rivers South East) as Secretary, Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC Cross River North) as Publicity Secretary, and Kenneth Eze (APC Ebonyi Central) as Treasurer.

In his acceptance speech, Abiru stated that the Forum would serve as a platform for discussing, analyzing, and dissecting national issues by Southern Senators for the sole purpose of moving Nigeria forward.

Taraba auto crash kill 10 as 15 passengers kidnapped

Lawmakers probe NCDMB over $35m refinery, summon officials

Daily Trust reports that the forum’s meeting is coming a few hours after Bamidele alleged that the budget padding allegation made by suspended Senator Abdul Ningi, the former chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, was part of an agenda to unseat the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who is also from the southern region.