Competence as yardstick for Speakership

Femi Gbajabiamila has by now become a household name not just in Nigeria but around the world. This is not only because of the fact that the name Gbajabiamila is unique to him and his family members, but also because the bearer of the name has made tremendous contributions to the development of the Nigerian […]

Femi Gbajabiamila has by now become a household name not just in Nigeria but around the world. This is not only because of the fact that the name Gbajabiamila is unique to him and his family members, but also because the bearer of the name has made tremendous contributions to the development of the Nigerian Legislature, especially the Green Chamber, since 2003 when he first came to the House to represent Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State.

Gbaja, as he is fondly called by his colleagues and associates, has distinguished himself as a first-class lawmaker, who knows his onions in whatever he does. As a lawyer, Gbajabiamila did not find it difficult to blend with the rigours of legislative business when he came to the House 16 years ago.

Of the 16 years, Gbajabiamila spent the last 12 years as a principal officer – twice as Minority Leader and now House (Majority) Leader. Here is a man who is not only unassuming but also humble to a fault.

Blessed with a lot of wisdom and eloquence, Gbaja was able to lead the then opposition parties in the House between 2007 and 2015 to enviable heights. No wonder he readily fit into the seat of House Leader in 2015 when our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), became the party with majority of seats in both chambers of the National Assembly.

At a time when the then ruling party almost silenced the opposition parties in the House due to the numerical strength the ruling party enjoyed at the time, Gbajabiamila gave the opposition parties a voice. He was always on his toes defending the Nigerian masses each time an issue that negatively affected the populace was brought on the floor of the House.

As an astute and articulate lawmaker, each time Gbajabiamila spoke on any issue on the floor of the House, every member listened with rapt attention. As a matter of fact, Gbaja is unmatched as far as the power of convincing members of the House through debate is concerned. A very straightforward human being who doesn’t like being hypocritical, if Gbajabiamila says yes, he stands by that and vice versa.

Despite attaining such enviable position as a ranking lawmaker, Gbaja brings himself down to talk to every member and non-members alike in a manner that shows humility. Condescending on people has never been his trait.

He serves as a repository of legislative knowledge and a reference point to all, he is an unpaid consultant to many of his colleagues in the House as far as legislative business is concerned, and I am sure many members would attest to this.

Being a compassionate Nigerian, 56-year old Gbajabiamila single-handedly championed a course to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians in the way they are being short-changed by electricity distribution companies (Discos) through estimated billing.

He sponsored a bill to criminalise the practice of estimated billing due to what he termed “crazy bills” Nigerians get on monthly basis from Discos. That bill has since been passed through third reading by the House and has since been transmitted to the Senate for concurrence. That explains the kind of passion with which he handles matters that affect the generality of Nigerians.

Having paid his dues to the party, it was time to reward his hard-work in 2015, and APC did not waste time in adopting him as its sole candidate for the position of speaker. However, he did not emerge because he didn’t have the support base but because some people felt threatened by his credentials and knowledge to handle the office of speaker.

They feared that with an independent-minded person of Gbajabiamila’s standing as speaker, the era of business-as-usual was over. Thus, they went into an illicit alliance, and in the end, Gbajabiamila lost the election on June 9, 2015 by eight votes scoring 174 votes, while the outgoing Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, got 182 votes. He has since moved on and holds no grudge against anyone over the last contest.‎

Technically, however, Gbaja could be said to have lost the election by four votes, because there were four voided votes, and all of them were for him as some members that voted for him could not get the spelling of his name right.

Four years down the line, Gbaja is in the contest again. This time around in a bigger way and waxing stronger than in 2015.

Today, Gbajabiamila has everything working for him to step into the shoe of speaker because he has worked for it and deserves it.

Apart from being the most ranking APC member today in the House of Representatives, without sounding immodest, Gbajabiamila is unarguably the most competent APC member for the seat of Speaker. He always views issues nationally without any primordial sentiment. He is not caged by any regional sentiment hence he has an open mind to every issue.

Ordinarily, there shouldn’t be any argument as to whether Gbajabiamila should be speaker or not. In other words, no APC member should naturally come forth to challenge him for the seat. But this is democracy, where everyone has the right to contest for a position, provided they are qualified to do so.

In other legislatures around the world, individuals that occupy the position of House Leader naturally metamorphose to become speaker. But in our own case, it seems different.

However, if one may add, Gbajabiamila is not just the best from the South-west, he is simply the best among the present crop of contenders for the job. His endorsement hailing from governors, legislators to many relevant political stakeholders that are well meaning and aspiring progressive-democracy across the 6 geo-political zones of the nation is an indication of his acceptance by generality. No wonder some of those that had shown interest to contest for the seat have since dropped their ambitions and declared support for him.

To say that he has the capacity, capability, competence, courage, zeal and tenacity for the office of speaker is to say the least. Individuals may only express their sentiments and opinions, but nobody can fault his competence for the office of the Speaker any day any time.

Despite his competence for the job, another thing working for the House Leader is the fact that the APC as a party has once again seen in him somebody that would make a good speaker and complement the programmes and policies of the APC-led government by bringing all members of the House together to come up with good legislation for that. Thus, the party has already adopted him for the office.

It is therefore incumbent on all members of the 9th House of Representatives, irrespective of party affiliation, to ensure the emergence of Femi Gbajabiamila as the next speaker for a better legislature.

With Allah (SWT) on our side, Gbajabiamila shall be Our Speaker This Time.

Abdullahi Balarabe Salame, member representing Illela/Gwadabawa federal constituency, Sokoto State