Dogora, Gbajabiamila
A
dramatic twist was added to the race for the speakership of the 8th
Assembly on Monday as the two leading contenders made conflicting claims
on the number of lawmakers backing their ambition.
The front runners are House Minority
Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos State), and Chairman, Committee on
House Services, Mr. Yakubu Dogara ( Bauchi State).
Both lawmakers are members of the All Progressives Congress.
While Gbajabiamila said on Monday that
he had the support of 179 out of 213 APC members-elect, Dogara, on the
other hand, stated that 213 members across all political parties were
with him.
However, Gbajabiamila added that he also had the backing of the outgoing Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, to become his successor.
The two contestants made the claims in separate statements issued by their campaign organisations in Abuja.
In Gbajabiamila’s statement, which was
signed by the Chairman of the campaign organisation, Mr. James Faleke,
he said his support base cut across the six geo-political zones, adding
that the 179 members “voluntarily signed” his endorsement register.
Part of the statement read, “The Femi
Gbajabiamila Speakership Campaign Secretariat hereby confirms that 179
out of 213 APC members-elect in the 8th House of Representatives,
cutting across the six geo-political zones, have so far voluntarily
signed the endorsement register of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as the next
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“The entire northern caucus, in
endorsing Gbajabiamila, said that their endorsement is based on merit.
They further hinged their support on the fact that the victory of the
APC, apart from the good programmes of the party, is based principally
on the alliance of the North/South-West.
“Since the South-West supported the
current Speaker, AminuWaziri Tambuwal, to the end. They believe the
South-West deserves the support of the North to produce the next Speaker
in the person of Gbajabiamila.”
On Tambuwal, the organisation dismissed
claims that the current speaker was backing Dogara as untrue. Rather, it
said Tambuwal was actually with Gbajabiamila.
“Tambuwal is purely interested in
bequeathing a strong legacy in the House of Representatives, which our
candidate, Gbajabiamila represents. I can therefore confirm that
Tambuwal is strongly in support of Gbajabiamila as the Speaker of the
8th House of Representatives”, the statement added.
On its part, Dogara’s group which
claimed to have secured the support of 213 members, also stated that it
wanted to build on the achievements of Tambuwal.
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