The races for the 360 seats in the House of Representatives are expected to produce surprising results on Saturday.

The reasons are not far-fetched. The dynamics of politics in Nigeria have evidently changed with the Electoral Act 2022. The Nigerian electoral climate has witnessed advancement in the use of a technological device called Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS. The common understanding of the machine and the principal function thereto is to say that this piece of technology filters fraud from the system, at least, significantly.

And so, all electoral victories will be conceivably won by the dints of hard work, the character, and competence of the candidate. All things being equal it will not be by financial war chest or outright rigging that had hitherto dotted the political firmament.

As it stands, 1101 persons are contesting for 109 Senate seats while 3,122 others are jostling for 360 Reps’ seats making it a grand total of 4,223 persons in a contest for the 469 National Assembly offices in both chambers.

Notably, the country has 18 registered different political parties that are active. Though not all of these parties are visible and politically viable in terms of the political positions they currently have, some of them have been embraced by the people and remarkably so, for the wind of change that is blowing across the country right now.

Likely political disruptions by LP, NNPP

Two such political parties are the Labour Party, LP, and the New Nigeria People’s Democratic Party, NNPP, which have evidently rattled the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and the incumbent All Progressives Congress, APC.

Across the country, these parties have candidates and would surely slug it with the major ones in the federal parliamentary elections.

On the stables of the APC and the PDP are serving members of the House of Representatives who have secured return tickets via the primaries. Some have also through the judicial pronouncements reclaimed theirs having lost it ab initio in the political chessboard and intrigues that played out and so, would be participating in the elections.

Ninth House bigwigs staging a comeback

Below is a list of men and women with some political visibility whose actions and inactions in the course of time have made a must-watch in this election. Would they successfully stage a comeback? Any strong opposition against their pursuits? Find the answers in the analysis.

Femi Gbajabiamila

Currently, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila calls the shots as the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives. He represents Surulere 1 federal constituency of Lagos State. Gbajabiamila’s legislative pedigrees ring a bell. He debuted in the House in 2003 and since then, it’s been back-to-back for him. Gbajabiamila has been a minority leader, the majority leader and now the Speaker of the House. To somewhat appreciate him for his legislative interventions, his party, the ruling APC, and constituents returned him unopposed in the primaries to contest for the 2023 general elections for the 6th time. Gbajabiamila sure does have opposition from other parties in his constituency. But whether he wins is a question of time. Would he also retain the speakership? That will depend on the zoning arrangement of the APC and the decision of incoming Reps.

Ahmed Idris Wase

Rep. Ahmed Idris Wase currently represents the Wase federal constituency of Plateau State. He’s on his fourth term having been elected into the House in 2007. He is also armed with the APC ticket to return to the House. Wase is also facing stronger opposition. It may be fiercer this time because of the wind of change from the Labour Party. No one knows where the pendulum of victory will be swinging to until after the election. Should he win, he will be returning to the House for the fifth time.

Alhassan Ado Doguwa

Rep. Alhassan Ado Doguwa is of the APC. He is probably the oldest lawmaker in the House having been elected first in 1992 in the then shortlived National Assembly. He represents Tudun Wada/Doguwa federal constituency of Kano State. He is currently the Leader of the 9th House. He’s likely to face an upheaval task in his quest to return for the 7th term. Why? Kano State has completely been divided by the evolution of the NNPP, whose Presidential Candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is a former governor of the state. Kwankwaso is not a pushover in the state at all. The outgoing governor, Abdullahi Ganduje served as his deputy and so, he’s a power broker. Besides, a former member of the House of Representatives and chairman, the Committee on Appropriations, Hon. Jubril Abdulmumuni has since joined Kwankwaso in an attempt to reclaim Kano. Outside of this, Doguwa also had issues late last year with the leadership of the party in the state. The matter dragged on for a while prompting Doguwa to call on the governor and the presidential candidate of the party, Aiswaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to take over the affairs of the party and settle the scores, warning that APC may lose should the issues remain unsettled. So, the election is expected to be tough for Doguwa.

Ndudi Elumelu

Rep. Ndudi Elumelu is the minority leader of the 9th House, representing Aniocha North/Aniocha South/Oshimili North/Oshimili South constituency of Delta State. He was first elected to the House in 2007. He’s of the PDP and has since secured his ticket for a possible return to the House. Elumelu may not have issues getting reelected due to his numerous empowerment programmes in his constituency. Besides, he’s very close to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the running mate to the PDP’s Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku. Elumelu may just be waiting for Saturday to seal the deal with his people on his elevated seat in the House.

Muktar Aliyu Betara

Rep. Muktar Aliyu Betara represents Biu, Bayo, Kusar, Shani Federal Constituency of Borno State. He’s currently the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations. An APC member, he has since secured his ticket, ready for a fifth return to the House. He’s loved by his people and may not likely get a stronger opposition. Besides, the running mate to Tinubu, Kashim Shetima, was governor of the state. This means that it may be APC from top to bottom in the state.

Benjamin Kalu

Rep. Benjamin Kalu is a young lawmaker who debuted in 2019 to represent Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State. Kalu has, however, distinguished himself as the Spokesman of the 9th House. He’s also of the APC and has clinched his ticket for a return. But for sure, he has a strong opposition in Hon. Nnenna Ukeje of the famous Justice Ukeje family. Nnenna is no greenhorn. She was a three-term member of the House of Representatives where she was the Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs. She currently has the ticket of the PDP to contest against Kalu. In the estimation of many analysts, both of them are marketable products going by their legislative pedigrees. But then, it’s left for their constituents to make the best choice between them.

Mohammed Mongunu

Like Doguwa, Rep. Mohammed Mongunu became a member of the House in 1992 at the age of 26 years. He was reelected to the House of Representatives in 2007 to represent Marte/Nganzai/Monguno federal constituency of Borno State. He was a member of the 6th, 7th, 8th and the 9th assembly where he is currently the Majority Chief Whip. He’s however not contesting to return to the House in the 10th Assembly rather he’s contesting for a Senate seat. His victory is somewhat guaranteed considering the fact that Borno is synonymous with APC.

Nkiruka Onyejiocha

Rep. Nkiruka Onyejiocha is another famous name in the House of Representatives and in Abia politics. She’s currently the deputy chief whip and member of APC. She was elected into the House in 2007 to represent Isiukwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency of Abia State. Onyejiocha who used to be a member of the PDP until 2019 is seriously facing opposition from the PDP which controls the machinery of power in Abia.

Outside of this, the lawmaker is also currently having some axe to grind with the senator representing Abia North, her senatorial district, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu. All of this may significantly affect her reelection but it’s left to be seen on Saturday.

Babajimi Benson

Rep. Babajimi Benson made his debut into the House in 2015 to represent Ikorodu Federal Constituency of Lagos State on the platform of the APC. He was reelected in 2019 and was given the House Committee on Defence to chair. He also has his ticket to contest this Saturday but the issue of his return is entirely the call of his constituents.

Implications of lawmakers’ return

In the light of the cliché that experiences counts or matters, no one would expressly endorse the defeat of these lawmakers and indeed, all the lawmakers. There is already this lamentation or rather an argument that the primary elections across the major political parties in the middle of last year were conducted in a manner that robbed many of the serving members of their return tickets.

Yes, one cannot wish away the legislative pedigree garnered over time by the individual lawmakers but it is a democracy that comes with a choice by the people spasmodically. On this premise, it could be safe to say that it is inconsequential to lament over the failure of some lawmakers to make it back to the House after the elections. Government is undoubtedly a continuum, meaning that the new ones will learn. Should this be the case after the Saturday elections, it simply means that not many old members would serve in the 10th National Assembly and vice versa! (Vanguard)

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