Why some senators won’t return in 2027

•Endorsement by govs, party crises, others shape decisions

Ahead of the 2027 polls, many of the current occupants of the 109 seats in the Senate won’t return to the 11th Senate, according to findings.

A number of cases seem sealed already with clear signals that the lawmakers won’t return in 2027.

Investigations indicate that several factors account for the development, including ‘consensus’ endorsement by state governors/political party stakeholders across the states, self-ambition, rotation, performance assessment, political party crises, the choice of godfathers and the entry of new contenders.

At least two cases of consensus endorsement by governors and party stakeholders have been confirmed.

In Ogun State, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Adeola Solomon Olamilekan (Ogun-West) has been endorsed as the successor to Governor Dapo Abiodun.

Olamilekan, popularly known as Yayi, was endorsed during the April 13, 2026 APC’s Strategic Caucus Meeting held at the party?s secretariat in Abeokuta, where Abiodun openly declared support for the senator and former House of Representatives member.

Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that the move foreclosed any senatorial plans by Olamilekan in 2027, having received the green light for an ambition he had always wished to actualise.

READ ALSO: 2027: APC North-West promises highest votes for Tinubu, govs, lawmakers

In Nasarawa State, a similar consensus endorsement with the approval of the sitting governor, Abdullahi Sule, also of the APC, was secured for the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Aliyu Wadada.

Wadada, a former member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), had defected to the APC, preparatory for his governorship ambition on the platform of the ruling party.

Governor Sule, to further confirm the choice of Wadada, took the former member of the House of Representatives to President Bola Tinubu over the weekend for a formal presentation to the President.

Wadada, in accepting the endorsement, thanked the governor and the stakeholders in Nasarawa State, saying, “I received with humility and a profound sense of responsibility the endorsement of His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Alhaji Sule, as the preferred aspirant for the gubernatorial ticket of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.”

Findings showed that this pattern of endorsement set off by the APC would likely be adopted in the states in the weeks ahead of the primaries of the political parties, especially by second-term governors desirous of having a confidant replacing them.

“This pattern will make the primaries a mere formality, where they are held at all, though it may open the window for potential internal disputes later,” one senior official informed our correspondent on Monday in Abuja.

In Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli (Oyo South) received endorsements from APC leaders in the state and particularly from the Ibarapa zone on April 15, 2026 to be the next governor of the state.

It was gathered that while his case had no connection with Governor Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it still aligned with the pattern of endorsements that implied the senator would not be picking a senatorial ticket for 2027.

Aside from endorsements as a factor that will keep some senators out of the Red Chamber in 2027, further investigations indicated that a clash of interests in states like Delta, Ogun, Imo, Kogi among others had reportedly played up former governor Ifeanyi Okowa against Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta-North); governor Dapo Abiodun against the return chances of incumbent Senator Gbenga Daniel (Ogun-East) as well Governor Hope Uzodinma, who is said to be shopping for replacements for some senators.