A review of the outcomes of party primaries has revealed that dozens of members of the House of Representatives fell at the first hurdle in their reelection bids, as the hands of state governors showed in the shadow elections across Nigeria.
After the president rejected the initial bill, and a civil society coalition highlighted errors in the copy transmitted to him, the lawmakers failed to do the needed due diligence to avoid further mistakes, notably, in section 84. Also, during a House session after the primaries, some members could not hide their emotions on the matter. The Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu who lost in the primaries, was angry with the removal of statutory delegates in the primaries., who lost his primaries to the daughter of James Ibori, a former Governor of Delta State, raised a point of order on the matter. He urged his colleagues to veto the president on section 84. He was subsequently advised by the speaker to move the motion.
In Jigawa State, four members of the House will not be returning on the platform of APC. Mohammed Faggen, Shittu Gilabi, Muhammad Gudeji and Sani Kiri are missing from the list sent by APC to INEC. Messrs Yari and Marafa got Senate tickets, while tickets for the House were also used to cement the new political settlement.
In Sokoto State, even though the PDP is the ruling party, it has only three out of the 11 seats of the state in the House of Representatives. Ex-governor Aliyu Wamakko is the leader of the APC in the state. In Nasarawa State, Jonathan Gaza, who recently decamped to the APC, did not get a return ticket for the Karu/Keffi federal Constituency, same for Abubakar Saidu of Lafia federal constituency, who failed to clinch the ticket of the APC.
In Adamawa State, Governor Adamu Fintiri is seeking to cement his hold on the state and expand the presence of the PDP in the National Assembly. Only four Reps are members of the PDP, while the other four belong to the APC. Also, there is former Governor Theodore Orji who has secured a senatorial ticket, while his son, Chinedu Orji, has taken a Reps’ ticket of the PDP.
In Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Wike is the supreme leader of the PDP and he decides who gets what in the PDP. Farah Dagogo, a member of the House, wanted to run in the PDP governorship primaries but was not allowed to do so. He was instead detained for 62 days on allegations of sponsoring cultists.In Cross River State, Daniel Asuquo defected to the Labour Party to contest for a senatorial seat after losing at the PDP governorship primaries.