Serving governors, newly-elected governors, and members of the House of Representative of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have endorsed the Majority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, as the next speaker of the ninth assembly.
The endorsement was done on Tuesday night, ThisDay newspaper has reported.
The Ogun State governor-elect, Dapo Abiodun, confirmed this on his Facebook page on Wednesday. He said Mr Gbajabiamila is believed to have the required experience and leadership skills to (lead) the House of Representatives.
“Last night (Tuesday), all the newly-elected and serving governors of the All Progressives Congress from South-west, along with members of the House of Representatives from the same region had a meeting where we unanimously endorsed the candidature of Femi Gbajabiamila as the next Speaker for the 9th Assembly,” Mr Abiodun said.
“We are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that Gbajabiamila has garnered the prerequisite experience, leadership skills and wherewithal to successfully lead the green chamber and ensure that we have a smooth working relationship with the executive arm of government at the national level.
“The state governors and governors-elect have been participating in the induction programme organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in Abuja. They decided to seize the opportunity of their presence in Abuja to hold consultations leading to a rancour-free election of presiding officers for the 9th National Assembly,” he wrote.
Efforts to get confirmation from Mr Gbajabiamila’s media aide, Smart Olarenwaju, were unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls and text message.
The national leadership of the party had adopted Mr Gbajabiamila as its choice for the office for the position. The party explained that he was the preferred candidate because he is the highest-ranking member in the lower chamber of the National Assembly.
The House is expected to be inaugurated in June.
However, despite the party’s decision, others have indicated interest in contesting for the position.
APC lawmaker, Umar Bago, while joining the contest for the speakership position, said only those in the party who are working to impose the APC majority leader on the House are insisting on Mr Gbajabiamila.
Another APC lawmaker, Nkiru Onyejeocha, who had also indicated interest in the position, appealed to Mr Gbajabiamila and the party to step down for her “for Nigeria to move forward.”
The APC enjoys a clear majority in the incoming House of Representatives, winning over 200 of the 360 seats. Hence, it is expected to produce the Speaker, but as it happened in 2015, a different candidate other than the person endorsed by the party leadership may contest the election.
While Mr Gbajabiamila and Ahmed Lawan were endorsed by the party for the speakership and Senate president positions in 2015, Yakubu Dogara and Bukola Saraki emerged as the Speaker of the House and Senate President respectively.
The two winners later defected from the APC to the PDP.
So far, there are at least seven members that have indicated interest in the position of Speaker. However, Mr Gbajabiamila is considered the leading candidate.
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