Since the inauguration of the current National Assembly in June 2023, there have been changes in the composition of lawmakers that make up the 10th House of Representatives due to factors such as judicial verdicts and resignations.
It has been over six months since members of the 10th House of Representatives were inaugurated and lawmakers commenced their responsibilities of lawmaking, oversight, and representation of citizens residing in the 774 local government areas across the country.
The inauguration of the tenth National Assembly took place on Tuesday, 13th June 2023, with Rep Tajudeen Abbas (APC, Kaduna) and Rep Benjamin Okezie Kalu (APC, Imo) emerging as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House, respectively.
Since then, there have been several major events in the parliament, which is described as the most politically diverse in Nigeria’s parliamentary history, some of which have been spotlighted here.
The total of seats available in the House remains 360, but the composition of lawmakers who make up that figure has changed in the face of numerous court verdicts on the February 25 election results, deaths of lawmakers, defection and resignation.
OrderPaper findings show that court verdicts are a leading factor for the change in the composition of lawmakers by political parties. Deaths and resignations of party members have also contributed to this.
In the last six months, 8 lawmakers have been sacked and replaced by court rulings owing to gaps in their election process. Similarly, the resignation of lawmakers was another reason; from June 2023 till date, two lawmakers resigned following ministerial appointment by the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The 10th House also lost a member who died a few months after the inauguration.
These events have affected the composition of the 10th House, especially when outlined by their political parties and has given room for new faces in parliament over time. This report outlines the change in the composition of the members and the lawmakers who joined in June 2023 but are no longer members of the House. Here is an outline of the party composition of the House at and after the inauguration:
i) Number of Seats – 360
(ii) Number of Political Parties – 8
PARTY COMPOSITION (June 2023)
Majority Caucus:
(i) All Progressives Congress (APC) –178 seats
Minority Caucus:
(i) Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) – 115 seats
(ii) Labour Party (LP) – 35 seats
(iii) New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP) – 19 seats
(iv) All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – 5 seats
(v) Social Democratic Party (SDP) – 2 seats
(vi) Young Progressives Party (YPP) – 2 seats
(vii) African Democratic Congress (ADC) – 2 seats
PARTY COMPOSITION (6 months after)
Majority Caucus:
(i) All Progressives Congress (APC) –180 seats (Gained 2 seats)
Minority Caucus:
(i) Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) – 110 seats (Lost 5 seats)
(ii) Labour Party (LP) – 34 seats (Lost 1 seat)
(iii) New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP) – 19 seats (Unchanged)
(iv) All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – 5 seats (Unchanged)
(v) Social Democratic Party (SDP) – 2 seats (Unchanged)
(vi) Young Progressives Party (YPP) – 2 seats (Unchanged)
(vii) African Democratic Congress (ADC) – 2 seats (Unchanged)
(viii) Pending (Re-run/Bye Elections – 6 seats
An overview of lawmakers who were inaugurated but left within the first six months of the House:
Lawmakers sacked by appeal court
Jonas Okeke Kalu
Rep. Jonas Okeke Kalu was sacked by the Imo State election tribunal in September 2023 because he was not validly nominated by the PDP.
The judgement was a unanimous decision by the three-member panel led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed. Jonas had won the reps seat to represent the Ihitte/Uboma federal constituency of Imo State with a total of 19,468 votes while Chike Okafor of APC polled 15,920 votes.
But Okafor had challenged the declaration of Rep Okeke by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election because the respondent was not duly sponsored and qualified to contest the election under the candidacy of the PDP.
In its judgement, the tribunal held that in violation of the provision of section 84 (5) (c) of the Electoral Act 2022, the PDP conducted the primary election in a venue that was outside the constituency. The appeal court also upheld the judgement, declaring that Okeke was not qualified to contest the said election based on the fact that the primary election of the party was held outside the constituency, which was a pre-election matter.
Stainless Nwodo
In November 2023, an appeal court sitting in Abuja nullified the election of Rep. Stainless Nwodo, a member representing Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani federal constituency of Enugu State in the House of Representatives under the Labour Party.
According to the appellate court, the Labour Party candidate wasn’t qualified to stand for the election, and the appeal of the PDP andidate, Martins Oke, and his APC counterpart, Samuel Ekwueme, who charged him to court, had merits. Rep. Nwodo had won with a total of 14,089 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Martins Okeh of the PDP, who scored 12,633 votes to clinch the second position. The candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the election, Sam Ekwueme, came third with 10,016 votes. Displeased, the candidates of the PDP, and APC challenged Nwodo’s victory at the tribunal and asked it to sack the LP candidate over alleged certificate forgery and irregularities during the election. But the court struck out their petitions. However, they dragged Nwodo to the appeal court, insisting that he was not qualified to run for the election. And the court, in its judgement, nullified the election and declared PDP’s Martins Oke as the winner.
Chijioke Okereke
Rep. Chijioke Okereke, the candidate of the Labour Party, had emerged as the winner of the February 25, 2023 election but was sacked by the Enugu State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in September 2023. Anayo Onwuegbu of the PDP had approached the tribunal challenging the declaration of Okereke because he was a stranger to the election as his name was not on the result sheet as the candidate of the Labour Party.
As a result, the tribunal sacked Rep. Okereke and affirmed Onwuegbu as the duly elected candidate of the February 25 poll. Subsequently, Okereke, the member representing Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River Federal Constituency, appealed, but the court dismissed it. The appeal court upheld the ruling of the tribunal, declaring that Okeke was not qualified to contest the said election.
Jinigi Rufai
In October 2023, an appeal court sacked Rep. Jingi Rufai, member representing Mubi North, Mubi South and Maiha of Adamawa State, at the House of Representatives. The court had sacked the PDP candidate for the 2023 election and declared Jaafar Magaji of the APC as the winner of the election for the constituency.
Plateau Judicial tsunami
In November 2023, the PDP had multiple judicial rulings which cost some of its members their respective seats to opponents in the National Assembly. Six members in both chambers of the nation’s legislature were sacked by the court of appeal, with four of them coming from the House of Representatives:
Dachung Bagos
Dachung Bagos. Rep. Bagos was serving his second term as member representing Jos South and East federal constituency in the House. He was first elected in 2019, and re-elected in 2023.
Beni Lar
Rep. Beni Lar, was a lawmaker representing Langtang North and Langtang South federal constituency in the House. She was first elected to the House in 2007 and retained the seat until the National and State House of Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Plateau State nullified her victory in the 2023 election. The court hinged the nullification of Lar’s victory on the failure of her party to conduct a valid nomination of her candidacy to contest the election and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Vincent Bulus as the rightful winner of the election.
Isaac Kwalu
Another plateau lawmaker affected was Isaac Kwalu, member representing Shendam/Quaapan/Mikang federal constituency of the state. The court nullified his election and declared John Dafa’an of the APC, the winner.
Peter Gyendeng Ibrahim
Also, Peter Gyendeng Ibrahim, member representing Barkin Ladi/Riyom federal constituency was sacked from the House. He was a former member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, where he represented Barkin Ladi constituency.
Ministerial and other executive appointments
In July, President Bola Tinubu released the names of his ministerial appointees. The list included economists, finance experts, health experts, lawyers, former governors, lawmakers and serving lawmakers from both chambers of the 10th assembly.
Two serving lawmakers in the House was on the list. They are Rep. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and Rep. Tanko Sanunu.
Another is Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of the House in the 9th assembly, was also appointed as the Chief of Staff to the President. With their nominations, the members had to relinquish their positions to take up ministerial appointments.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, an APC lawmaker representing Akoko Northeast and Northwest Federal Constituency of Ondo State in the 10th House, was appointed as the Minister of Interior. He resigned his membership of the House in August 2023. In the letter, Rep. Tunji-Ojo said his resignation was necessitated by his appointment as a minister. He noted that his appointment came at a time when the country was in dire need of technocrats to lead its advancement and economic growth.
Tanko Sununu
Rep.Tanko Sununu was a lawmaker representing Yauri/Shanga/Ngaski federal constituency of Kebbi State before his appointment as the minister of state for education. The lawmaker accordingly resigned from the House in September, 2023.
Femi Gbajabimila
Femi Gbajabiamila, a sixth-term serving lawmaker resigned from the 10th House in June to take up his new position as the Chief of Staff to President Tinubu. Rep. Gbajabiamila, who was the Speaker of the 9th House, tendered his resignation less than twenty-four hours after the inauguration of lawmakers. The APC lawmaker has spent 20 years in the House of Representatives, representing Surulere 1 federal constituency of Lagos State. He was first elected into the House of Representatives in 2003 and won five straight elections before February 2023, when he was re-elected for a 6th term.
Deaths
Between June to December, 2023 the House of Representatives recorded one death.
AbdulKadii Jelani Danbuga
Rep. AbdulKadii Jelani Danbuga, an APC lawmaker representing Isa-Sabon constituency, Sokoto State, died in October 2023. According to media reports, he died in Abuja after a brief illness. His remains were flown to Sokoto, where he was buried under Islamic rights.
STAR Check: Nigerians can keep tabs on the legislative performance of members of the 10th House of Representatives here.
