Politics

Gbajabiamila declares for Reps Speaker

Published

7 years ago

March 31, 2019

The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has formally declared to contest for the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Ninth National Assembly. Gbajabiamila has been in the House of Representatives for five consecutive tenures. The prospective Speaker of the House was surrounded by over 100 newly elected and current members of the House who have pledged their support at his official declaration for the Speaker of the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly

Gbajabiamila denotes his campaign slogan as: “Nation Building, A Joint Task”. He said that he is seeking the exalted office to mentor the next generation and unite the nation.

The federal lawmaker, representing Surulere II federal constituency will be returning to the House of representatives for the fifth term in June.

Gbajabiamila’s office announced Abdulmumin Jibrin, a Kano lawmaker, as the Director General of the campaign.

Jibrin is a former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations before he fell out with the House leadership in 2016 over budget padding.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership is expected to announce the zoning for the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The APC leadership has indicated support for the Senate Majority Leader in the current National Assembly, Senator Ahmed Lawan, from Yobe State for the President of the Senate in the Ninth National Assembly.

However, the APC leaders endorsement was strongly condemned by other APC contenders for the Senate President, who include Borno Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State. Besides, the President of the Senate is also being contested by Senator Danjuma Goje from Gombe State. Clearly, the Senate President seems to have been zoned to the northeast.

Ndume has vowed to continue his campaign for the Senate President, claiming he has the support of many APC senators.

The APC has majority members in the Ninth House of Representatives, winning over 200 of the 360 seats.

Though, APC leaders expressed the endorsement of Gbajabiamila for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, there are innuendos that some lawmakers from the north are considering supporting a lawmaker from the north central.

The House will be inaugurated in June 2019.