The ambition of Femi Gbajabiamila, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, to emerge as the Speaker of the House in the ninth National Assembly may have hit the rocks as many of his colleagues are opposed to his bid.
Gbajabiamila on Sunday in Abuja formally declared his intention to contest as speaker but findings revealed that many his colleagues, especially those from the Northern part of the country, are determined to ensure that he is not elected, just as it was done in 2015.
He also added that many of the lawmakers are working hard to prevent a situation where the speaker “will be a yes man to President Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu”.
“From the look of things, the odds are against Gbajabiamila because he does not enjoy the support of majority of his colleagues. The PDP has 100 Reps-elect and I can tell you, Gbajabiamila cannot get the support of five of PDP lawmakers.
“In the APC, many of the lawmakers especially from the Northern part of the country are also not backing his ambition. They see it as a Tinubu agenda which they are determined to resist at all cost. The only people who are rooting for Gbaja are Reps-elect from South-West and even with that, it is not all the states from the South-West.
“The general impression amongst the lawmakers is that Gbajabiamila is too proud and lacks the charisma of the current lawmaker, Yakubu Dogara. Except a miracle happens, it is unlikely that Gbaja will get the position”, he said.
Daily Independent also gathered that aside his colleagues, Gbajabiamila, who currently represents Surulere 1 federal constituency of Lagos, does not enjoy the support of APC leadership at the national level, contrary to the impression being created.
According to our source, a member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), while the National Working Committee led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has been specific on the choice of Ahmad Lawan as the party’s choice for Senate President, it has, however, been silent on Gbajabiamila as speaker.
“If you notice last week, the APC said it has decided that Ahmad Lawan will be the Senate President and that the position is final but kept quiet on the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. From feelers we are getting, the party leadership is trying to avoid the mistake of 2015 but it is not really keen on Gbajabiamila as the preferred candidate”, he said.
Meanwhile, Jerry Alagboso, a House of Representatives member (PDP), on Sunday, advised Gbajabiamila to forget the ambition of becoming speaker.
Alagboso, who represents Orlu/Oru East/Orsu federal constituency spoke at the venue where Gbajabiamila declared his bid to run for the speaker.
He had openly inferred that Gbajabiamila was arrogant in the manner he was seeking support of others for his ambition.
The lawmaker, who said that he was speaking for his party, the PDP, his people in the South East and South South and himself, said Gbajabiamila did not deem it fit to consult widely with minority parties, especially the main opposition PDP, believing that it was a done deal for him since he had the blessings of his party, the APC.
The legislator said that it was advisable for Gbajabiamila to ignore the arrogance exhibited by his party in this matter and dialogue, negotiate with the leaders in parliament, all lawmakers, and political parties, especially the PDP, as these are the only people capable of helping or scuttling his age-long dream of becoming a speaker.
Alagboso told Gbajabiamila that he was taking the PDP for granted by casually calling its members on phone to seek their support without having to go down to the table to discuss with them.
“You have been calling on us on phone, but it is important that you meet with us. You cannot say because a man’s manhood is small then you can take his wife”, he warned, insisting that the PDP will still be very much relevant at all times in the affairs of the House of Representatives.
Alagboso’s comments did not seem to go down well with the APC moderators of the event, who whispered to him at intervals, making him to burst out in response saying, “leave me to talk. If you didn’t want me to talk you shouldn’t have invited me here.”
However, he said he had no personal issues with Gbajabiamila’s ambition promising to personally support him.
There were a few other PDP lawmakers there also, like Wole Oke, who said that he personally came to honour the Majority Leader, promising also to support him.
In his declaration, Gbajabiamila pledged to fight and defend the independence of the legislature, stressing, however, the imperative of striking a delicate balance in the relationship between the executive and the legislative arms of government without compromising the latter’s independence.
“I seek the office of the speaker to bring our tendencies together and unite us as a country. I seek the office of the speaker to bring governance even closer to the people. I seek the office of the speaker to mentor the next generation. I seek the office of the speaker so I can use the bully pulpit to galvanise Honourable members to make life more abundant for every Nigerian irrespective of tribe, religious background or political persuasion.
There is so much work to be done by way of legislation in many areas of our life including but not limited to education, health, power, infrastructure and alleviation of poverty. I believe many of these deficits can be addressed through meaningful and impactful legislation”, he said.
Gbajabiamila was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 and has won re-election four times after.
In 2015, he contested to become the speaker of the House, he lost to the incumbent speaker, Yakubu Dogara.
