The 73 new senators, led by Senator Saliu Mustapha, chose the Senate's leadership, according to Senate Majority Leader Senator Opeyemi Bamidele. Opeyemi described how Senator Mustapha established the First-Time Senators Forum, which he headed in the run-up to the Senate leadership election, together with seventy-two other first-time senators.
At a recent public event, the Senate leader disclosed that veteran members tried every tactic to scare and threaten Senator Mustapha, but he never gave up. "Since 73 senators were new to the Senate, the ranking senators lacked the authority to choose the Senate President.
The new senators took a sharp jab at us, created their own forum, and appointed respected Senator Saliu Mustapha as the head of the First Time Senators Forum." We made an effort to scare him by informing him that no forum of this kind is recognized by our standards.
Senator Bamidele recalled, "And Mustapha would respond, 'Okay, on the day of the election, we will know what the rules will do." He further revealed that the senior senators were forced to speak with Mustapha.