Appeal Court Rulings Reduce Senate As 6 PDP, 2 APC Senators Lose Seats

 The spasm of re-run elections directed by the Court of Appeal on senatorial election cases at the appellate level across the federation within the last two weeks has decreased the number of serving senators from 109 to 101.

The eight senators affected are:

• Senator David Mark (PDP Benue South)
• Senator Uche Ekwunife (PDP Anambra Central)
• Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP Abia North)
• Senator Sekibo George (PDP Rivers East)
• Senator Nwogu Olaka Johnson (PDP Rivers South East)
• Senator Ideozu Osinakachukwu (PDP Rivers West)
• Senator Abubakar Abdulrahaman (APC Kogi East)
• Senator Mohammed Abdulsalami Ohiare (APC Kogi Central)

Two senators also lost their seats out rightly via court of Appeal rulings to their closest challengers in the March 28, 2015 National Assembly election.
The senators are:

• Senator Abba Marafa Bashir (PDP Taraba Central)
• Senator Egye Salihu Hussain (APC Nasarawa South).

This has brought down the number of serving senators on the platform of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to 58 as against those belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), now 43.
Though many of the eight senators affected expressed optimism of coming back any time the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conduct their re- run elections, there is the likelihood of some of them not making it back.
While the two affected APC senators from Kogi State, may find it easy wining the re-run elections on account of the State now in the kitty of the APC at the governorship level, it may be difficult for their PDP counterparts in other states.
It would be recalled, the former Senate President, David Mark in his reaction to the nullification of his election penultimate Saturday, boasted that he would certainly come back to the Senate with ease in the re-run election.