.Saraki, 59 other Senators out, 249 Reps not returning
.Senate: APC 62, PDP 44, YPP 1
.2 senate, 3 Reps seats pending
As President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurates the 9th National Assembly on Tuesday, only 49 senators and 108 members of the House of Representatives would be returning to the hallowed chambers.
Ahead of the programme, President Buhari had last week issued a proclamation for the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, alerting the nation of the importance of the event.
Some of the lawmakers had failed to get return tickets at their different party primaries while others lost at the main elections, which held between February and March this year.
Among the notable senators that will not be part of the 9th Assembly are former Presidents of the Senate, David Mark and Dr. Bukola Saraki. Others that are not returning, majority of them former governors, include Godswill Akpabio, Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Shaaba Lafiagi, Jonah Jang, Joshua Dariye, George Akume, Abiodun Olujimi, Barnabas Gemade, Kabiru Marafa and Ahmed Yarima.
While Mark did not seek re-election after five terms, Saraki lost his re-election bid to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his home state, Kwara. On his part, Dariye, a former governor of Plateau State, did not contest the election because he is serving a 10-year jail term.
The APC initially had 65 senators-elect and PDP had 41, but after the Supreme Court ruling that gave the Zamfara State election to the PDP, the table has turned. With this development, the APC will now have 62 senators and PDP 44, while the YPP will have only one senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, meaning that the 9th Senate would be inaugurated with a total of 107 senators, out of the 109.
The results of Imo North and Imo East senatorial districts are yet to be determined because the incumbent senator representing Imo North, Benjamin Uwajumogu of the APC, had gone to court, requesting that the result be voided.
For Imo West, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has withdrawn the Certificate of Return issued to the former governor, Rochas Okorocha, after the returning officer alleged that he declared Okorocha winner under duress. But a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Friday ruled that INEC acted in a lawless manner by withdrawing Okorocha’s Certificate of Return and therefore ordered the Commission to return the certificate to the former governor. If he got the certificate before Tuesday, the number of senators to be inaugurated will rise to 108.
For the House of Representatives, three cases are still pending in the court while there are 249 members who would not be returning to the Green Chamber. Like their counterparts in the Senate, the Rep members either lost out in the primaries, general election, or won elections to the Senate.
Among members of the Green Chamber who are not returning include the former Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Yussuff Lasun, who contested the APC governorship primary election in Osun State, but lost, and the seven out of the 18 APC Reps in Lagos State who did not contest the election.
Others are former Deputy Majority Whip, Pally Iriase, former Deputy Minority Whip, Binta Bello; Emmanuel Orker Jev (PDP, Benue), who won a senatorial seat; Zakari Mohammed (PDP Kwara) and Razak Atunwa (PDP Kwara), who lost the state governorship election to the candidate of the APC, among others.
And following the proclamation of the 9th National Assembly by the president, the election of the principal officers is expected to dominate proceedings on the first day of the 2019/2020 parliamentary year, with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) expected to clinch all the principal positions. Two senators from the party, Ahmed Lawan and Ali Ndume have signified their intentions to slug it out for the presidency of the Senate.
Lawan, the immediate past leader of the Senate is the choice of the leadership of the APC for the position but Ndume believes he can beat him to it. The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) appears to be keeping its fingers crossed on the position of the Senate President as none of its senators has thrown his hat into the ring.
It is a similar situation in the House of Representatives as the APC choice for Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila (Surulere Federal Constituency, Lagos) is also being challenged by an APC member from Oyo State, Jide Olatunbosun, representing Saki West/Saki East/Atisbo Federal Constituency.
There are fears that the same disunity within APC lawmakers that characterized the election of National Assembly principal officers in the 8th Assembly could cost the party dearly on Tuesday paving the way for PDP to sneak in and grab the top positions in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Recall that the immediate past Senate President, Busola Saraki defied the party’s leadership and contested and won the position against the party’s candidate, with the support of senators from the PDP and a handful of APC senators. This caused friction between the executive and the legislature throughout the life of the 8th National Assembly. Saraki and House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara eventually defected to PDP in the twilight of their tenure.
