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• Loan requests, constitution amendment, others may face opposition from angry lawmakers
• How 60 Reps lost return tickets
Ahead of the 11th House.
Inside sources told Daily Sun that Ihonbvere had been widely regarded as a strong candidate for the deputy speaker position in the event that the ruling party re-zones the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly.
His loss at the primary stage removes him from that equation entirely and opens a contest that could produce unexpected outcomes. The broader ripple effects of the primary losses are still being calculated by party strategists and legislative insiders who did not anticipate the volume of incumbents that were swept away by the exercise.
The list of fallen lawmakers is long and geographically diverse. In Imo State, three federal lawmakers, including Emeka Chinedu, representing Ahiazu/Ezinihitte Federal Constituency; Mariam Onuoha, representing Onuimo/Okigwe/Isiala Mbano Federal Constituency and Chike Okafor, representing Ehime Mbano/Ihitte Uboma/Obowo Federal Constituency, lost their tickets.
In Benue State, only four of the 10 APC members secured return tickets, while seven of the 24 members from Lagos State lost their primaries.
Three members from Borno State also failed to return. From Plateau State, Daniel Asama and Ajang Afred lost out, as did Umezuruike Munachim from Rivers State, Ngozi Okolie from Delta State and Akiba Bassey from Cross River State.
Also affected is Esosa Iyawe, the member representing Oredo Federal Constituency in Edo State, who made multiple party moves across the Labour Party (LP), the APC, the Nigeria Democratic Party (NDC) and back to the APC, only to be denied a return ticket to the House for a second tenure.
In Anambra State, Dominic Okafor, who represents Aguata Federal Constituency on the APGA platform, also lost out, while deputy minority whip, George Ozodinobi of Anaocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia Federal Constituency reportedly withdrew from the NDC ticket contest.
Ahead of the primaries, three Rivers State lawmakers were disqualified from participating entirely. Awaji Inombek Abiante, representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency; Boma Goodhead, representing Akuku Toru/Asari Toru Federal Constituency and Anderson Igbiki, representing Okrika/Ogu/Bolo Federal Constituency, were all barred by the APC from participating in the exercise, adding a further layer of bitterness to what is shaping up as a deeply contested transition period.
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Daily Sun gathered that many of the defeated lawmakers, particularly those within the APC, have launched formal appeals against the primary results, and that the party’s National Secretariat is yet to take a final decision on the petitions before it.
The volume of appeals shows that the fall-out from the primaries is far from over and that the battles lost at the primary stage may yet be re-litigated through party channels, the courts or both.
Not all departures from the House are involuntary. Several members have traded their legislative seats for higher political ambitions. Kingsley Chinda, who represents Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in Rivers State, has emerged as the APC gubernatorial candidate in the state, meaning his considerable legislative experience will now be deployed on the campaign trail rather than in the chamber.
Jonathan Gbewfi, chairman of the House Committee on Solid Minerals, is gunning for the Nasarawa State governorship on the platform of the Labour Party. Fredrick Agbedi, chairman of the PDP caucus, will also not be returning to the Green Chamber, having opted instead to contest a senatorial seat in Bayelsa State.
Against the tide of exits and losses, two notable political comebacks have caught the attention of observers. Former minority leader, Ndudi Elumelu and former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, both of whom were principal officers in the 9th House before losing their reelection bids in 2023, have successfully secured the APC primary tickets for 2027.
Their return to electoral contest is expected to raise the stakes considerably in the battle for principal office positions in the 11th House, should they win their respective general election contests.
Elumelu and Onyejeocha were known to have had their eyes on higher offices in the 10th House before their 2023 losses derailed those ambitions. A successful return in 2027 would position both of them as serious contenders in whatever leadership configuration emerges after the general election.
The overall picture that emerges from the primaries is one of a chamber in flux, where incumbency offered far less protection than many lawmakers had expected and where the interventions of state governors and party structures proved decisive in ways that upended even the most experienced legislators.
As appeals pile up at the APC National Secretariat and aggrieved members weigh their options, the composition and the internal power balance of the incoming 11th House of Representatives remains, for now, very much an open question.
