The year 2027 is just less than twelve months away. But inside Nigeria’s political space, the battle for the National Assembly is already at full boil.
Findings by this newspaper show that no fewer than 25 serving and former governors are actively positioning to enter or return to the Senate in 2027. This is the reality of backroom negotiations, party manoeuvres, and in some cases, open confrontations playing out across the country.
At the centre of it all sits Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Last week, he rammed through an amendment to the Senate Standing Orders. The changes to Order 5 now stipulate that no senator can run for any principal office unless he has served at least two consecutive terms immediately preceding nomination. In plain language, no newcomer or returning senator can challenge Akpabio in 2027.
That raises a simple question: Is the Senate becoming a retirement home for former governors? And if 25 of them land there in 2027, what space is left for younger Nigerians and fresh ideas?
The Current Senate: 13 Former Governors Already Seated
Before looking forward, consider what is already inside the chamber.
The 10th Senate currently has no fewer than 13 former governors. They include Senate President Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Gbenga Daniel (Ogun), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Simon Lalong (Plateau), and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara).
That is 13 men who have already sat in Government Houses across the country. Some reports put the number at 15. Either way, roughly 12 to 14 per cent of the 109-member chamber is comprised of men who have already held the highest executive office in their states.
And now a new wave is coming.
The Incoming Flood: 10 Sitting Governors Eyeing the Senate
According to reports from The Guardian and Leadership newspapers (April–May 2026), at least 10 sitting governors who are completing their second and final terms by May 29, 2027, are actively considering or have already signalled their intention to move to the Senate.
They are AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi).
In Kwara, AbdulRazaq is eyeing Kwara Central, setting up a direct collision with the current senator, Saliu Mustapha. In Ogun, Governor Abiodun is looking at Ogun East, a seat currently occupied by former governor Senator Gbenga Daniel. That means two governors will fight for one seat. In Nasarawa, Governor Sule has openly admitted that stakeholders are pressing him to contest Nasarawa North, a reversal of his earlier public statement that he would never seek the Senate.
In Yobe, Senator Musa Mustapha has already withdrawn his interest to pave the way for Governor Buni. In Adamawa, Senator Amos Yohanna has stepped down for Governor Fintiri.
Governors Douye Diri of Bayelsa and Hope Uzodimma of Imo will finish their terms in January and February 2028 respectively due to off-cycle elections. But they are already part of the long-term Senate planning. Uzodimma, a former senator himself, is widely seen as a major threat to Akpabio’s ambition to remain Senate President. That explains why the rule change was rushed through last week.
The Returning Former Governors: At Least 12 More
But sitting governors are only half the story. Many former governors who left office in previous cycles are also trying to return to the Senate in 2027.
They include Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Samuel Ortom (Benue), and Darius Ishaku (Taraba). In Delta, Okowa — who was the PDP vice presidential candidate in 2023 and recently crossed to the APC — is being positioned to replace Senator Ned Nwoko. In Kogi, Yahaya Bello has allegedly picked up nomination forms for Kogi Central, setting up a tough contest with Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Then add the former governors who are currently serving in the Senate and seeking re-election: Akpabio, Oshiomhole, Kalu, Dickson, Dankwambo, Goje, Aliero, Sani Bello, Daniel, Tambuwal, Wamakko, Lalong, and Yari. That is another 13 names.
When you add sitting governors (10), former governors currently in the Senate seeking return (13), and former governors outside the Senate seeking entry (at least 5 to 7), the total exceeds 25. The headline is not an exaggeration. It is a statement of fact.
Why the Senate? The Sanctuary Argument
This newspaper has asked this question before. The answer has not changed. Former governors rush to the Senate for three reasons.
First, the Senate offers a shield from prosecution. Section 308 of the Constitution protects a sitting governor from criminal and civil cases. When that immunity expires, the former governor becomes vulnerable to the EFCC. A Senate seat provides political cover. A senator cannot be arrested while the Senate is sitting without the permission of the Senate President. A senator can influence committee investigations. For many of these men, the Senate is not a legislature. It is a hiding place.
Second, the money. Former governors who become senators do not stop collecting state pensions. That means mansions, cars, security details, and monthly stipends. Then they add Senate salaries and allowances. One person drawing from two government accounts.
Third, the power. A governor is accustomed to giving orders. The Senate offers a title — “Senator” — that commands respect, but without the daily burden of running a state. Show up to plenary twice a week. Collect your cheque. Travel abroad. This newspaper has documented that several former governors in the 10th Senate had not sponsored a single bill as of March 2025, nearly two years into the session. They are benchwarmers with oversized salaries.
Akpabio’s Preemptive Strike: The Rule Change
That brings us to what happened last week.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Senate witnessed a fierce confrontation between Senate President Akpabio and Senator Adams Oshiomhole. The issue was an amendment to Orders 4 and 5 of the Senate Standing Rules.
The amended Order 5 now reads: “Any Senator shall not be eligible to contest for any Principal Office of the Senate unless he has served as a Senator for at least two consecutive terms immediately preceding nomination.”
This is a surgical strike. When the 11th Senate is sworn in during June 2027, any senator who did not serve continuously in both the 9th and 10th Senates — that is, from 2019 to 2027 — cannot run for Senate President, Deputy Senate President, or any principal officer position.
Who does this target? Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo, who served in the 7th and 8th Senate before becoming governor. Kabiru Marafa. And critically, Adams Oshiomhole himself, who is serving his first term in the 10th Senate.
When Oshiomhole tried to raise a point of order to challenge the adoption of the amended rules, Akpabio ignored him. When Oshiomhole persisted, the Senate President threatened him in public. He said, “I can use this rule to take you out of the chamber if you are not ready to comport yourself.”
Political analyst Professor Murtala Muhammad of North West University, Kano, described this as “procedural weaponisation” — using institutional rules to shape outcomes instead of upholding fairness. He noted that such practices flourish where institutional norms are weak and contested.
The irony is difficult to ignore. Akpabio himself broke convention to become Minority Leader in 2015 as a first-term senator. Now he is pulling up the ladder behind him.
The Damage to Democracy
The flood of governors into the Senate is not a problem without victims.
Consider what happens in a state where the governor decides to go to the Senate. That governor controls the party structure. He has spent eight years building a political machine worth billions of naira. When nomination forms go on sale, he buys them for himself and for rival candidates just to force them to step down. He imposes “consensus” — which means submit or be destroyed. He tells the current senator to step aside.
In Kwara, the current senator is being told to make way for the governor. In Ogun, two governors, one sitting, one former, are preparing to fight for one seat. In Kogi, a former governor is pushing aside a senator who won her seat fair and square. In Yobe, the senator has already withdrawn.
What chance does a young Nigerian have against this machine? None. A 35-year-old with a first-class degree and good ideas cannot compete with a governor who has a state treasury behind him.
Discussion about this post