Results of the recently held National Assembly elections conducted on February 23, 2019 indicate a high turn over rate as less than 64 Senators and 151 Members in the current Assembly will not be returning to the Federal Legislature. According to results by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) only 45 (out of 109) Senators and 209 Members (out of 360 Members) in the current 8th Assembly will continue to the 9th Assembly at its inauguration in June, 2019. While worrying, the figures are nonetheless an improvement from the 7th Assembly (2011-2015) which had 79 Senators and 229 Members non-returned.
Yet, there are disturbing trends that might indicate reduced representation in the 9th Assembly. For instance, despite over 80 political parties fielding candidates for legislative seats, the announced winners of the Senatorial elections have either been from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) {which won 64 seats) or the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) {which won 41 seats} with the exemption being the Young Progressives Party, (YPP), (which won a seat in the Senate). The other 3 Senatorial seats from Plateau, Kogi and Imo States are yet to be declared. This position is different from the outcome of the 8th National Assembly elections that had candidates drawn from the main ruling and opposition party and had a higher number of legislators from other political parties such as the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) and All Nigeria Peoples Party, (ANPP).