AT least three members of the House of Representatives, elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have died since the inauguration of the 10th Assembly in June 2023, The ICIR reports.
The most recent death occurred on Wednesday, July 10, 2024.
The lawmaker representing Ibadan North Federal Constituency, Oyo State, Musiliudeen Akinremi, also known as Jagaban, died, aged 51.
Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Akin Rotimi, announced his death in a statement on Wednesday, July 10, describing his passing as a loss to the House.
Akinremi was a two-time member of the House.
He won re-election into the House in 2023, after concluding his first tenure, which began in 2019.
Before the 2019 elections that ushered him into the House for the first time, it was reported that a member of his constituency filed a suit asking the court to disqualify him on the allegation that he had been convicted of a crime in the Republic of Liberia in 2013.
Reacting, a local media organisation in Oyo state quoted Akinremi as refuting the allegation, describing it as the handiwork of his opponents.
Akinremi died after a brief illness, a little over a year into his second term as a federal lawmaker.
On May 10, 2024, exactly two months before Akinremi’s death, a lawmaker representing Babura/Garki Federal Constituency in Jigawa State on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform Isa Dongoyaro died.
Dongoyaro was also said to have died after a brief illness.
He was serving as a lawmaker for the first time. He had worked as a special assistant on security and intelligence to the immediate past Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, before his election.
Dongoyaro was once an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was among those summoned to respond to questions on allegations of corruption against former Acting EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, by the presidential panel carrying out a probe on him.
The ICIR reports that about seven months before Dongoyaro died, the APC lost its lawmaker representing Isa/Sabon Birnin Federal Constituency in Sokoto State, Abdulkadir Danbuga.
Danbuga died at 63 on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, and his death was also attributed to a brief illness.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had lost its member, Isma’ila Maihanchi, member-elect of the House of Representatives for the Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency in Taraba State.
He died shortly after the 2023 polls and before the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.
He was aged 36 and died after a brief illness.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.