At the National Assembly elections conducted on February 25, certain members of the National Assembly who had served many terms culminating in over 20 years at the sacred chambers were again re-elected into the Senate and the House of Representatives respectively,
The expected presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone and for the majority of the seats in both the Red and Green Chambers of the National Assembly, several members who have been in the federal parliament for many times ranging into decades were again re-elected.
The current ninth National Assembly was inaugurated in June 2019 and the 10th is slated to be inaugurated the same month in 2023.
Historically, ranking members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives generally become the presiding and main officers. The presiding officers are the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, the Deputy President of the Senate and the Deputy Speaker of the House.
The principal officers are leaders of the majority and minority caucuses, who, combined with the presiding officers, constitute the leadership of the chambers accordingly. They include the Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Majority or Chief Whip, Deputy Whip, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip. These 10 men lead the business of each of the Senate and the House.
Owing to the ranking structure of members in the National Assembly, these experienced politicians, who have essentially become the landlords and kingmakers of the chambers, will exert their influence in the appointment of leaders and chairmen of committees in the tenth Legislature.
Ahmed Lawan
Presidential contender returns to Senate
The current President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has served in the National Parliament since 1999.
Femi Gbajabiamila
This close associate of Tinubu has spent 20 years already in the House and he is set to spend another four.
He was re-elected to spend his sixth term in the Green Chamber. A statement on Sunday from his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, partially stated, “Gbajabiamila remains the only legislator from the South-West geopolitical zone to have been elected six times to represent his district. Throughout his 20-year adventure in the House of Representatives thus far, Gbajabiamila has served as Minority Whip, Minority Leader, Opposition Leader, and Majority Leader before becoming elected as the Speaker in 2019. He remains the only politician in Africa to have done this.”
Senator Ali Ndume
The member representing Borno South Senatorial District is also entering the 10th Assembly as a sixth-timer. Ndume has been in the National Assembly since 2003,
Alhassan Ado-Doguwa
From one Republic to another\sThe current Majority Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa was a member of the House in the failed Third Republic and returned to the parliament in the Fourth Republic to represent Doguwa/Tudun Wada federal seat in Kano State in 2007. He has now secured another term to continue in the House through 2027.
Mohammed Tahir Monguno
Mohammed Monguno is presently representing Marte/Monguno/Nganzai federal district in Borno State. Monguno was initially elected member of the House in the Third Republic (1992/93) and returned to the House in 2007 under the current Fourth Republic. He is the current Majority Whip of the House.
Enyinnaya Abaribe
Seeking another road back to the chamber Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe became a member of Abia South Senatorial District in the Senate in 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. He switched from the PDP to the All Progressives Grand Alliance and subsequently resigned as the Minority Leader of the Senate. He has now been re-elected under APGA. Abaribe, a former Deputy Governor of Abia State, has been representing the state jointly with two ex-governors of the state, Orji Uzor Kalu and Theodore Orji, in the current ninth Legislature.
Khadijat Bukar Abba-Ibrahim
Khadijat Bukar Abba-Ibrahim has served in the House since 2007, representing Damaturu/Gujba/Gulani/Tarmuwa federal seat in Yobe State and has been re-elected for another term. She was serving her fourth term in 2016 when the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), named her as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. On January 9, 2019, Abba-Ibrahim resigned from Buhari’s ministry to run for a new fourth term in the House and won.
At a point in time, she and her husband, Bukar Abba-Ibrahim, were both in the National Assembly. Curiously, Mrs Abba-Ibrahim campaigned against her stepson to earn the APC ticket with which she is presently serving her seat in the House.
Mukhtar Betara
The budget man returns. Another member of the 2007 set is Mukhtar Betara who represents Biu/Bayo/Shani federal district in Borno State and presently leads the House Committee on Appropriation. Betara has now been re-elected for a sixth term.
Nicholas Mutu
‘NDDC lawmaker’ remains put
Nicholas Mutu has been in the House since 1999, representing Bomadi/Patani federal constituency in Delta State.
