Gbajabiamila Emerges House Leader

Tue, Jul 28, 2015
By publisher
2 MIN READ

BREAKING NEWS, Politics

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After several weeks of rancour, peace seems to have returned to the House of Representatives as Femi Gbajabiamila, a member from Lagos State and the ruling All Progressives Congress favourite, eventually named as majority leader

THE leadership crisis in the House of Representatives appears to have been finally resolved. Femi Gbajabiamila, a member representing Surulere Federal Constituency of Lagos State, on Tuesday, July 28, emerged the majority leader of the House, thereby putting to rest leadership tussle which had in past few weeks divided the lower chamber.

Information about how Gbajabiamila eventually emerged was still sketchy at press time, but it was no doubt, a signal that the factions in the conflict had been able to reach a compromise.

Gbajabiamila has all along been the choice of the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, but because of some political calculations based on federal character and regional balancing, the former minority leader was opposed for the position.

Fearing that the repeat of fisticuffs which forced the House to hastily adjourn last time President Muhammadu Buhari called the members to a meeting in the Presidential villa, Abuja on Monday and the meeting lasted to the early hours of Tuesday morning. At the meeting Buhari reiterated his stand not to meddle on the National Assembly’s leadership crisis. But he cautioned them that the party’s position was supreme. The president was said to have told the lawmakers: “Obey the party.”

Initially, Gbajabiamila had been the choice of the APC for the speakership slot, but he narrowly lost to Yakubu Dogara, who defied the party’s directive to contest the position.

Dogara’s rejection of the party leadership’s demand that Gbajabiamila be made the majority leader, but the position split the house into two factions, each insisting on its term for resolving the conflict. The speaker similarly named Buba Jibrin as deputy leader; Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, and Pally Iraise, deputy whip.

Dogara also announced Leo Ogor as minority leader; Chukwuma Onyema as deputy minority leader; Yakubu Barde as minority whip and Binta Bello as deputy minority whip. The emergence of Gbajabiamila as leader of the House was made possible by the indirect intervention of President Buhari.

— Jul 28, 2015 @ 17:00 GMT

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