Stability Play: Why Akpabio, Tajudeen, Barau, Kalu May Keep Their Gavels to Finish What They Started

By James Nwachukwu

When the 11th National Assembly is inaugurated in June 2027, the faces at the front of both chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives may look familiar.

Behind the scenes, a quiet consensus is building around one idea: continuity. Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Okezie Kalu may all return to their seats. This is not just because politics rewards incumbency, but because the Renewed Hope Agenda they are co-piloting with President Bola Tinubu is still in mid-flight.

Among ranking members of the House and Senate, the case for keeping leadership unchanged comes down to one word: stability. Changing drivers now would slow progress on state police, local government autonomy, tax reform, and constitutional review. Nigerians can’t afford the learning curve that comes with new leadership at this critical stage.

Since June 2023, the 10th Assembly has moved with unusual speed. The Electricity Act, Student Loans Act, and sweeping amendments to ease doing business all cleared by both chambers in record time. Budgets were passed with minimal rancor. And for the first time in years, the legislature’s body language toward the executive has been described as “constructive, not combative.”

Nowhere is the stability argument sharper than in the case of Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu. Back home in Abia State, his name has headlined every serious 2027 governorship projection.

After years of political groundwork, Kalu is widely credited with reviving the APC brand in a state long considered hostile territory for the party. He took APC into markets and town halls. He reconciled aggrieved factions and recruited young professionals into the fold. He visited and hosted many politicians from other political parties in Abia, showcasing projects and framing the Renewed Hope Agenda in local language.

Kalu founded and launched the Renewed Hope Partners (RHP) in Abia, set up a befitting office in Umuahia, the state capital, from where he took the message of the Renewed Hope Agenda to the hinterlands.

Under his watch, APC membership drives in Bende and across the three senatorial districts of Abia North, Abia Central, and Abia South drew numbers the party hadn’t seen since 2015. The Ward, Local Government, and State Congresses witnessed no rancour for the first time since 2014. Party chieftains openly call him “the face of APC’s rebirth” in Abia, if not in the entire South East geopolitical zone.

Many in Abia believe Kalu’s chances of winning the governorship election in 2027 were almost 100 percent if not for the continuity call in Abuja. Yet speculations are there that he has been asked to stay put in the House. The feeling in Abuja is that Nigeria needs him in the legislature more than Abia needs him in the state house, at least for now. The national assignment is bigger.

Inside the Green Chamber, Kalu has earned goodwill that transcends party lines. Lawmakers describe his sessions in the chair as firm but fair. He knows the House Rules cold, quotes constitutional provisions without notes, and rarely lets debate derail into chaos. When tempers flare, he disarms with humor and emotional intelligence. When technical bills land, he breaks them down in plain English. You may disagree with him, but you respect the brain and the balance he employs.

That intellect has traveled abroad too. As Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review and head of the Monetary and Financial Affairs Committee of the Pan African Parliament, Kalu has become one of the Assembly’s most visible diplomats. From the ECOWAS Parliament in Nigeria, to South Africa for the Pan African Parliament, the African Union, and on to the US, Brussels, and Turkey for the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Kalu’s voice of patriotism and pan-Africanism has continued to resonate.

The Deputy Speaker is also championing the gender inclusion bill despite cultural headwinds, and anchoring the push for post-crisis reconciliation frameworks across Africa. He successfully drove the South East Development Commission (SEDC) bill that established the commission for the region.

Kalu isn’t alone in the continuity conversation. Speaker Abbas Tajudeen has also staked the House on “people-centered legislation” tied to Tinubu’s 8-point agenda. Akpabio’s Senate has equally branded itself “unapologetically pro-Nigeria,” moving swiftly on budgets and other people-oriented bills. The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin has also kept the Senate’s machinery quiet but efficient. Together, the four presiding officers have avoided the public spats that defined past Assemblies. They may have disagreed behind closed doors, but they emerged with a common front. That unity is why Nigeria’s reform pace hasn’t stalled.

If all four return, the 11th Assembly would open with a depth of institutional memory rarely seen. Tax bills, electoral act amendments, and the next phase of constitutional review would land on desks already familiar with the files.

For Kalu, the decision to stay may defer a personal ambition. But in Abia APC circles, many see it as a long game. This is why President Tinubu, the APC, and the broader political structure should maintain the current power-sharing status quo. The stability, institutional memory, and legislative-executive synergy built over the last two years are too critical to disrupt.

With the Renewed Hope Agenda still unfolding and major reforms in motion, keeping the current leadership in place is the surest way to finish what they started.

*Nwachukwu, a public affairs analyst writes from Umuahia, Abia State capital.