Supporters of Femi Gbajabiamila
say 178 newly elected members of the house of representatives have endorsed him
for speakership.
The incoming lawmakers endorsed
Gbajabiamila during a meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
Gbajabiamila is the current
majority leader of the house and is favoured by both the All Progressives
Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari to become speaker in the ninth
assembly.
The incoming lawmakers who had
come from various political parties said the decision to endorse Gbajabiamila
is devoid of partisan politics.
Addressing journalists after the
meeting, Onofiok Luke, member-elect and current speaker of Akwa Ibom state
house of assembly, said the majority leader is the “best qualified” for the
position.
He gave the number of his
colleagues present as 178 but TheCable could not verify this claim.
He also did not give the names of
the 178 members.
For a speaker to emerge, he or
she would need the votes of one-third of the 360 members in the lower
legislative chamber.
Luke, who is of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), said the decision is also devoid of personal interests
and sentiments.
He said: “We decided to convene
ourselves as newly elected members and look at the emergence of next leadership
of the ninth assembly.
“We have looked through the
credentials of those aspiring to become speaker and we understand that with the
challenges we have, we need a bipartisan approach to solve the problem of
Nigeria.
“We need someone that has shown
he has what it takes even as reflected in his manifesto to carry the entire
parties along.
“We need someone who will not
mortgage the independence of the legislator but at the same time will not
engage the executive in unnecessary fight; someone who will put the interest of
Nigeria above his personal interests.
“We have found these in Femi
Gbajabiamila as the man who has the right capacity to lead the house of
representatives in the ninth assembly. And we know and believe he will not let
Nigerians down.”
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