Some members-elect of the House of Representatives are currently on a war path with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, over the choice of his successor
By Emma Ogbuehi
Some members-elect of the House of Representatives are currently on a war path with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, following what they described as disrespect meted on them by his Chief of Staff, Olarenwaju Smart, over choice of who succeeds him.
There has been intense tussle over who emerges as new speaker, even as the leadership of the ruling party in conjunction with the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, recently selected Hon. Tajudeen Abbass, as a preferred candidate.
This development has not gone down well with the other aspirants and the opposition parties, who had subsequently expressed their disillusionment.
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It was alleged that Smart, who is coordinating support of the old and newly elected lawmakers for the APC anointed Tajudeen Abbass, has been reaching out to threaten members to ensure they vote for the anointed candidate or end up without having any “juicy committee” in the incoming assembly.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a lawmaker who belongs to the camp of Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase, said many of them are deeply upset and some have proceeded to report the matter to Gbajabiamila.
He said: “It was quite dehumanising and belittling to be addressed like that by someone who has never contested elections, even for a local government chairman or councillor position.”
The aggrieved member-elect disclosed further: “He expressly told us, members and members-elect of the House of Representatives who went through the rigours of tough elections to get where we are today, people who campaigned to get votes and went out of our ways to get funds for our election, that we had better support Hon. T.J (Abbass) or not expect to chair or even be members of top committees in the 10th Assembly. It is the height of disrespect.”
It was learnt that the development heightened tension among the lawmakers who were already aggrieved over the illegal amendment of the House rules which has been attributed to Gbajabiamila and has led to talks of a last-minute impeachment.
It is reported that in a bid to placate the members, Speaker Gbajabiamila has been doling out large sums of money to them to apologise and solicit their support.
