•Akpabio and Abbas
Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio and his Deputy, Senator Barau Jibrin, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen and his Deputy, Benjamin Kalu are among 4,864 candidates of the contesting the available 469 National Assembly seat in the January 16, 2027 National Assembly Elections.
This is made up of 1,304 candidates for the 109 Senate seats across the 36 states and the FCT and 3,560 candidates for the 360 House of Representatives seats, reports The Nation.
Senate Leader, Bamidele Opeyemi, Senate Whip, Mohammed Tahir Mongunu and Deputy Chief Whip, Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, Deputy House Leader, Abdullahi Ali are also on the list.
A quick check through the list revealed that about 190 current members of House of Representatives and 54 serving senators got the nod of the APC to recontest their seats.
It is not however clear whether they were defeated at the party primaries or opted not to contest.
Some principal officers of the House (Julius Ihonbvere (Edo-House Leader), Fred Agbedi (Bayelsa-Minority Leader), Ibrahim Ayokunle Isiaka (Ogun-Deputy Chief Whip), Abdulsamad Dasuki (Sokoto-Deputy Minority Whip) and Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi will not be returning to the House.
While Ihonvbere and Ibrahim lost the primary elections in their state, Agbedi opt to contest the senate election on the platform of the Tanimu Turaki led camp of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dasuki opted not to recontest the elections while Ozodinobi’s name was missing from the list of candidates in Anambra.
While only one of the six members of the House of Representatives from Kwara state (Muktar Tolani Shagaya) made the list, none of the five members from Nasarawa state got a return ticket to the House.
Several experienced members of the House, including Nicholas Mutu (Delta) who has been in the House since 1999, Victor Nwokolo (Delta- since 2011), Peter Akpatson (Edo-since 2011), Igarewey Iduma Enwo (Ebonyi- since 2015), Awaji Nombet Abiante (Rivers) and Khadijat Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe- 2007-2015 and 2019 -2027) among others are not returning to the parliament.
Khadijat who was first Lady of Yobe State from 1999 to 2007 was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs by the Buhari administration after winning her return ticket to the House in the 2015 National Assembly elections.
Two members of the House (Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi- Nasarawa) and Kingsley Chinda are contesting the governorship elections in Nasarawa (Labour Party) and Rivers (APC), while two other members (Hassan Naralaba- Nasarawa and Aderemi Oseni (Oyo) opted for the Senate seat.
Some other experienced members that did not get the APC ticket to return to the House are Aliyu Ademorin Kuye (Shomolu-Lagos), Tunji Olawoyin and Kayode Tijani Ismail (Kwara), while three female members of the House (Zainab Gimba- Borno, Mariam Odinaka Onuoha- Imo and Khadijat Bukar Abba Ibrahim-Yobe) are not returning to the House.
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa and his Rivers State counterpart, Martin Chike Amaewhule made the list.
A glance at the list indicate that there are 40 candidates contesting the Senate seat in Abia, 38 in Adamawa, 37 in Akwa Ibom, 42 in Anambra, 31 in Bauchi, 45 in Bayelsa, 39 in Benue, 33 in Borno, 25 in Cross River, 43 in Delta, 30 in Ebonyi, 26 in Edo, 19 in Ekiti and 38 in Enugu.
Others are Gombe (37), FCT (20), Imo (45), Jigawa (31), Kaduna (33), Kano (49), Katsina (23), Kebbi (35), Kogi (42), Kwara (35), Lagos (36), Nasarawa (36), Niger (34), Ogun (37), Ondo (31), Osun (39), Oyo (38), Plateau (32), Rivers (41), Sokoto (36), Taraba (35), Yobe (26), Zamfara (37).
For the House of Representatives, Abia has 92 candidates, Adamawa (95), Akwa Ibom (103), Anambra (108), Bauchi (123), Bayelsa (61), Benue (118), Borno (72), Cross River (63),Delta (116), Ebonyi (65), Edo (51), Ekiti (36), Enugu (75), Gombe (64), FCT (37), Imo (140), Jigawa (85), Kaduna (151), Kano (251), Katsina (104), Kebbi (62), Kogi (94), Kwara (65), Lagos (184), Nasarawa (61), Niger (92), Ogun (95), Ondo (91), Osun (81), Oyo (151), Plateau (86), Rivers (146), Sokoto (138), Taraba (70), Yobe (62) and Zamfara (72).
The PDP is presenting candidates in 103 out of the 109 senatorial districts of the country and 302 candidates for the 360 seats in the House of Representatives seats.
