10th Assembly: Meet the incumbent Rep Members moving to the Senate

As the countdown to the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly continues, the spotlight this week is on incumbent members of the 9th House of Representatives who won big and will be ‘graduating’ to the Senate

READ ALSO: PROFILES: 11 former Rep Members ‘graduating’ to the 10th Senate

The February 25 National Assembly elections was a mixed bag of fortune and failure for incumbent members of the National Assembly in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

While a tiny proportion of these lawmakers scaled the tsunami that came with the party primaries in 2022, only a few in this category of lawmakers were able to extend their winning streak to the general election against other parties. Interestingly, some of the incumbent lawmakers who lost on February 25 suffered defeat at the hands of their colleagues who are daring to move from the Green Chamber to the apex legislative chamber in the country.

In this piece, we profile six Members of the 9th House of Representatives who will be resuming legislative duties at the Senate in June:

1. MOHAMMED TAHIR MONGUNO (APC, BORNO NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT)
   
   Representing Marte, Monguno and Nganzai Federal Constituency, the lawmaker is one of two lawmakers from the Majority Caucus who will be absent at the Green Chamber come June 2023.
   
   His own case is, however, different as his bid to occupy the Borno North Senatorial seat in the Red Chamber was successful, having won the February 25 National Assembly Elections. Amongst lawmakers from his home state, Borno, in the House of Representatives, Rep. Monguno ranks highest (volume of bills), having sponsored 53 bills so far.
   
   He replaces the Deputy National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Kyari, who resigned from the Senate in June 2022 upon his election into the party’s National Working Committee (NWC). 

   READ ALSO: Rep Monguno leads Borno Bills Chart with 53 Bills | National Assembly Scorecard

2. DARLINGTON NWOKOCHA (ABIA CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT)
   

   Popularly known as ‘Darlooo,’ the Abia lawmaker currently represents Isialangwa North/South Federal Constituency in the Ninth House of Representatives, where he chairs the Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters.

   A former Abia State House of Assembly member representing Isiala Ngwa State Constituency between 2007 and 2015, Nwokocha defeated Augustine Akobundu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Samuel Onuigbo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

   The Abia lawmaker serving a second term in the Green Chamber has sponsored seven bills in the last three years (June 2019 – May 2022). He will be replacing former governor Theodore Orji of the PDP.

   READ ALSO: PROFILES: Meet the 7 ‘Obidient’ Senators-Elect in the Tenth National Assembly

    

3. SIMON DAVOU MWADKWON (PDP, PLATEAU NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT)
   An academic-turned-politician, Mwadkwon’s political career started in October 2007, when he was appointed the Management Committee Chairman of Riyom Local Government Council.He later served as Executive Chairman of the Council between 2009 and 2011, after which he won elections into the House of Representatives to represent Barikin Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency on the platform of Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). He thereafter won re-election into the 8th and 9th Assemblies and has 23 pieces of legislation to his name. in the last three years (2019 – 2022).

   A third-term lawmaker, he sought the Plateau North Senatorial Seat in the 10th Senate and defeated Gyan Azi of the Labour Party (LP) and Giwa Christopher of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He will be replacing Istifanus Dung Gyang.

   READ ALSO: Reps Bagos, Mwadkwon, Gagdi, Deputy Speaker atop Plateau National Assembly Scorecard

    

4. NASIRU SANI ZANGON DAURA (APC, KATSINA NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT)
   A former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and later Minister of Environment during the Olusegun Obasanjo Administration until a cabinet reshuffle in January 2001.The lawmaker representing Zango/Baure Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives has been at the Green Chamber since 2011.He subsequently won re-election into the House on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015 and 2019. However, between June 2019 and May 2022, he sponsored four bills.

   Rep. Daura will be replacing incumbent Senator Ahmed Baba Kaita of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who he defeated at the February 25 polls.

    

   READ ALSO: Eighteen Katsina lawmakers sponsored 39 bills in three years | National Assembly Scorecard

    

5.  RAPHAEL ADEYEMI ADARAMODU (APC, EKITI SOUTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT)
   Chairman of Ekiti South West Local Government Area at 29, Adaramodu is the incumbent lawmaker representing Ekiti Southwest/Ikere/Ise/Orun Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. He is also the current Chairman of the House Committee on Youth Development.A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he served as Director of Communications of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, and later became Chief of Staff during Fayemi’s first term in office between 2010 and 2014.

   He defeated former Senate Minority Leader and the incumbent lawmaker representing Ekiti South Senatorial District, Biodun Olujimi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in the February 25 National Assembly elections.

   READ ALSO: IWD: Why no incumbent female Senator will return to the National Assembly

    

6. MUNTARI MUHAMMED DANDUTSE (APC, KATSINA SOUTH)
   Representing Funtua/Dandume Federal Constituency of Katsina State in the Green Chamber, he doubles as Chairman of the House Committee on Agricultural Production and Services.

   He had previously served as a Local Council boss for nine years and as a Special Assistant to the President on Budget during the Obasanjo administration between 2000 and 2001. Dandutse would later be elected to parliament in 2015 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and secured re-election in 2019
   In the 2022 APC Senatorial primaries, he defeated the incumbent Senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Water Resources, Bello Mandiya, to clinch the party’s ticket ahead of the February 25 National Assembly Elections. Interestingly, both Madiya and Dandutse, since their inauguration into parliament in 2019, have each sponsored one bill at their respective chambers.

   Having emerged as favourite to win the general election, he went on to defeat the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Shehu Garba, to secure the seat in the 10th Senate.

   READ ALSO: Parliament Special: Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly and the ghost of 2015