In June, the 10th Senate will be inaugurated. Just like in the House of Representatives, the February 25, Presidential and National Assembly elections, threw up a lot of surprises as most of the senators who were hopeful of returning to the Red Chamber lost in their bid. Most of them were defeated by greenhorns.

Thus, many ranking Senators who have spent up to 20 years, had their productive years in the upper legislative chamber terminated by newcomers. Also, sitting governors who had envisaged going to the Senate as their retirement home, had their dreams shattered like a pack of cards.

Unlike the executive arm of government, members of the legislature do not have fixed tenures. As long as their constituents keep re-electing them, they will as well keep returning to the National Assembly .

Out of the 109 senators, those who sought for re-election include: the Chief Whip of the Senate, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North); Enyinnaya Abaribe ( APGA, Abia South); Elisha Abbo (APC, Adamawa North); Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South); Binos Dauda Yaroe ( PDP, Adamawa South).

Others are Senators Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP, Anambra South); Seriake Dickson ( PDP, Bayelsa West); Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South); Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP, Cross River North); and Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central).

Others who also succeeded in their re-election bid are Senators Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central); Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi Central ); Jibrin Isah (APC, Kogi East); Lola Ashiru (APC, Kwara South ); and Sadiq Suleiman Umar (APC, Kwara North) .

Others are Senators Adetokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East); Godiya Akwashiki (SDP, Nasarawa North); Francis Fadahunsi (PDP, Osun East); Abdulfatah Buhari (APC, Oyo North); Barinada Mpigi ( PDP, Rivers South East), Aliyu Wammako (APC, Sokoto North); Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe North ) Sahabi Ya’u (APC, Zamfara North); Sani Musa (APC, Niger East); Shuaibu Lau (PDP, Taraba North) and Francis Ezenwa ( LP, Imo East).

Therefore, out of the serving senators who contested, only 27 got re-elected while 31 lost out.

The 31 senators who lost out in their return bids are Stella Oduah (PDP, Anambra North); Uche Ekwunife (PDP, Anambra Central); Jika Dauda Haliru (NNPP, Bauchi Central ); Gabriel Suswam (PDP, Benue North East); Sam Egwu (PDP, Ebonyi North); and Micheal Nnachi (PDP, Ebonyi South).

Others are Senators Francis Alimikhena (PDP, Edo North); Ordia Clifford (PDP, Edo Central); Biodun Olujimi ( PDP, Ekiti South); Saidu Alkali ( APC, Gombe North ); Abdul-Kwari Suleiman ( APC, Kaduna North); Ibrahim Gaya ( APC, Kano South); and Ahmed Babba Kaita (APC, Katsina North).

Also in the category of those who lost out are Senators Bala Ibn Na’Allah ( APC, Kebbi South); Tanko Al-Makura ( APC, Nasarawa South); Ajibola Basiru ( APC, Osun Central); Chimaroke Nnamani (PDP, Enugu East).

This is a clear departure from what is obtainable in the Senate since 2003, where there have been a high turnover of senators at the end of every session. This time, the 10th Senate will be largely populated by first timers.

As the 9th Senate winds up in June, some of the senators, who will be remembered for their actions and inactions in the National Assembly include: Dr Ike Ekweremadu, James Manager, Sabi Abdullahi, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, Biodun Olujimi, Chukwuka Utazi, Sam Egwu, Uche Ekwunife, among others.

Ike Ekweremadu

Ekweremadu served for three conservative terms as Deputy President of the Senate between 2007 and 2019. A lawyer, Ekweremadu, until his recent travails in the United Kingdom, was seen as the constitutional brain box of the Senate. He headed the Senate Committee on Constitution Review for 12 years, during which many key amendments were passed and signed into law.

James Manager

Manager, a lawyer, currently represents Delta South. He was elected into the Senate in 2003. In 2015, his name was penciled down as the next Minority Leader of the Senate. Like a thief in the night, Godswill Akpabio, a first timer, emerged instead. Unlike Manager, he didn’t protest the emergence or raised any concerns. Though there were claims that he may have had an arrangement with Akpabio, none was ever proven. Last year, he contested for the governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State and lost.

Sabi Abdullahi

Abdullahi is the current Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate. He represents Niger North. He was the spokesman of the Senate in the 8th National Assembly, though he was a first timer. In the Senate, Abdullahi is vocal. He was one of the senators who voted against electronic transmission of results in 2021, before President Muhammadu Buhari rejected the bill. He ran against the current governor of Niger State during the senatorial primaries last year and lost.

Bala Ibn Na’Allah

Na’Allah is a lawyer and a former drugs law enforcement officer. He is a member of APC. In the 8th National Assembly, Na’Allah was the Deputy Leader of the Senate, where he was considered to be very vocal. In 2018, following the invasion of the National Assembly by armed thugs, allegedly brought in by the current Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, Na’Allah was appointed to head the committee that probed the invasion. The outcome of the probe was never debated by the National Assembly. Omo-Agege secured a court injunction barring the Parliament from considering it.

Biodun Olujimi

Olujimi is often considered as the Amazon of the Senate. She is bold, daring and cerebral. Following Akpabio’s sudden resignation from the PDP in 2018, Olujimi was appointed by the PDP as the Minority Leader. She held the position until June 2019, when a new National Assembly was inaugurated. She currently heads Aviation Committee and has sponsored many gender-based bills that were often rejected by his male colleagues. She lost a re-election bid during last month’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

Chukwuka Utazi

Utazi served as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-corruption and Financial Crimes in the 8th National Assembly. In the current National Assembly, he heads the Committee on Primary Health and Communicable Diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Utazi’s Committee was one of the most active. A trained lawyer, Utazi often contributes during debates on the floor of the Senate. Many anti-corruption bills that were signed into law by President Buhari between 2015-2019, were the brain work of Utazi.

Sam Egwu

Egwu is considered as one of the bench warmers of the Senate. He served as governor of Ebonyi State between 1999-2007. He served as Minister of Education before retiring to the Senate, where he has since held sway, until he was sacked by the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the general elections. Though he currently heads a sensitive Committee on Housing, Ewgu has not sponsored any remarkable bill, notwithstanding.

Uche Ekwunife

Ekwunife, like Olujimi, is also considered an Amazon of the Senate. She is a former member of the House of Representatives, before stepping up to the Senate. She currently heads Science and Technology Committee. On the floor of the Senate, she is very vocal and to her credit, she is the female senator with the highest number of bills in the 8th Senate. Beside her activities on the floor of the Senate, Ekwunife is also very active at the Committee level. She lost her re-election bid to her long rival, Victor Umeh of Labour Party in Anambra State.

Oluremi Tinubu

Mrs Tinubu is a former First Lady of Lagos State and the First Lady-in-waiting of Nigeria, when her husband, Bola Ahmed Tinubu takes over as president in May. Mrs Tinubu was first elected to the Senate in 2011, four years after leaving office as First Lady of Lagos State. She currently heads the Senate Committee on Communications. Though she is seldom around during debates, she, however, makes contributions whenever she is available. In the 8th Senate, she had a major squabble with Dino Melaye. The rivalry was never resolved before the Assembly ended.

Ovie Omo-Agege

Omo-Agege is the current Deputy President of the Senate. He recently lost his bid to govern Delta State on the platform of APC. He is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review. On April 18, 2018, Omo-Agege allegedly led thugs into the National Assembly and the mace of the Senate was stolen during plenary. He has since tried without success to exonerate himself from the scandal. Unlike previous Deputy Presidents of the Senate, Omo-Agege has presided less than 20 times since he was elected in 2019.

Smart Adeyemi

Adeyemi heads the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory. He is a former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. He lost the ticket to return for the 4th term last year. On the floor of the Senate, he makes contributions. Since his return, however, in 2019, no signature bill has been attached to his name. He lost the bid to return for the 4th time during primaries last year.

(Sunday Sun)

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