Denying Experienced Lawmakers Senate Tickets Weakens Nigeria’s Democracy — Akpabio
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has cautioned political parties against denying experienced lawmakers tickets to return to the National Assembly, warning that such decisions could deprive the legislature of valuable…
Nigeria's National Assembly has long grappled with high legislator turnover, as party primaries frequently sideline sitting lawmakers in favour of new entrants backed by godfathers or shifting political alliances. Analysts have repeatedly linked this churn to weak institutional memory in the Senate and House of Representatives, where many bills die and committee expertise is lost each time a largely new set of members is sworn in after elections.
Akpabio's remarks, coming from the presiding officer of the Senate, add his voice to a recurring debate ahead of party primaries and ticket allocations for future polls, over how internal party processes—rather than voters alone—often determine who returns to the chamber. The coverage from Leadership and Punch both centre on his warning to political parties, though neither report details which specific lawmakers or parties prompted the comments, nor any concrete proposal for how parties should reform candidate selection to retain experienced hands.