Newly defected Taraba Senator appointed as Procurement Committee Chairman

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has appointed the former Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, as the Chairman of the Committee on Procurement.

Bwacha’s appointment was announced on the floor at the start of plenary on Wednesday by the Senate President.

The lawmaker, last week defected from the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the majority All Progressives Congress (APC).

The National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorcha Ayu, in a letter to the Senate on Tuesday, nominated Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau as the new Deputy Minority Leader to replace Bwacha.

The Senate President, on Wednesday, also announced Lau’s appointment as the Vice Chairman of the Committee on Works alongside Bwacha’s on the floor.

Meanwhile, a total of five bills have passed first reading in the Senate.

The bills include: Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education (Establishment) Bill, 2022 by Senator Francis Onyewuchi (Imo East); Infrastructure Development Bill, 2022 by Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar (Kwara North); and Administration of Criminal Justice (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2022 by Emmanuel Orker-Jev (Benue North West).

Others are the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2013 (Amendment) Bill, 2022 by Suleiman Abdu Kwari (Kaduna North); and National Artisanal Petroleum Refining Development Agency (Establishment) Bill, 2022 by Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Niger North).