Speakership: Who is afraid of Gbajabiamila?

Femi Gbajabiamila, the Majority Leader of the outgoing 8th House of Representatives and major contender for the incoming 9th House, a lawyer of many years before venturing into politics and occupying the seat for Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State for 16 years running since 2003, easily fits the bill of a veteran in […]

Femi Gbajabiamila, the Majority Leader of the outgoing 8th House of Representatives and major contender for the incoming 9th House, a lawyer of many years before venturing into politics and occupying the seat for Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State for 16 years running since 2003, easily fits the bill of a veteran in the legislature. Moreso that he spent the last 12 years of his stay in the legislature as a principal officer.

Having dedicated his time, energy and intelligence for the then opposition, it was no wonder that when the APC became the ruling party with clear majority in the parliament in 2015, he was endorsed for the position of speaker. But the rest is now history.

This time around, after the last general elections, the party once again found him worthy of being so nominated for the same speaker’s office.

This massive support, just like in 2015, appears to be giving some people sleepless nights, hence they resorted to all means possible, including throwing decorum to the dustbin in their attempt to drag his name to the mud, albeit unsuccessfully.

First, it was one Philip Undie who took Gbajabiamila to court over allegations of fraud in the US State of Georgia. But soon thereafter, Undie realised the truth of the matter and immediately applied the brakes and withdrew the matter from court, according to different media reports on May 28 and 29 respectively.

But surprisingly, few days ago, it was reported that the court ordered for a substituted service on Gbajabiamila on the same matter.

Then came the latest case against Gbajabiamila by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), which said on Tuesday that it had secured the nod of an FCT court to commence criminal proceeding against Gbaja for allegedly being indicted and sentenced to 36 months by the same Supreme Court of Georgia.

A similar matter was initially entertained by a Federal High Court in Abuja brought before it by the Social Justice and Civil Rights Awareness Initiative last year. However, the court struck out the case on May 22, 2018 as referred to by Undie.

To me, the answer is simple: Gbajabiamila paid his due when he was the leader of the opposition. He gave the opposition all he had and remained a loyal party man up to the time his party became the ruling party in the country. Thus, it is feared that should he become speaker, he will be a loyal party man that he would support the government formed by his party to achieve its lofty programmes and policies.

As a matter of fact, the two leaders of the National Assembly who occupied the positions as members of the ruling APC before they ditched the party, seriously undermined the APC-led government from the very day they emerged. It is no wonder that President Buhari told both Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara to their faces twice that he did not enjoy a good relationship with the National Assembly under them and that he scored them low on patriotism.

At this point, it is important to ask some pertinent questions: where were these people when Gbajabiamila became a member of the House in 2003, got re-elected in 2007, 2011 and 2015? Why did they have to wait until he won in 2015 and 2019 elections before raising the issue? Does that mean that if Gbajabiamila did not indicate interest in the position of speaker, they wouldn’t have gone to court? What really do they intend to achieve with all of this?

In response to CUPP, the Director General of the Gbajabiamila/Wase Campaign Council, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said at a press conference that “For the benefit of doubt, we wish to once again state emphatically clear that Hon Femi Gbajabiamila has never been convicted for any crime in the United States of America, Nigeria or any other country around the world for that matter. He has never been accused of corruption and has no corruption case hanging on his neck in Nigeria or any where around the world. He has not committed Perjury and has never committed perjury in Nigeria or any country of the world. He was eligible to contest in all previous elections he won and indeed eligible and qualified to contest for the office of Speaker House of Representatives in the 9th Assembly.

Well, like the governor of Kaduna State said a week ago, Gbajabiamila is the project of President Muhammadu Buhari, and his detractors know this too well, but they DO NOT wish the president well in his administration. Therefore, they must do everything humanly possible to scuttle the emergence of Gbajabiamila as speaker. However, like the saying goes in Hausa, ‘idan Rana ta fito, tafin hannu ba zai iya kare ta ba (if the Sun rises, one’s palm can’t cover it), Gbajabiamila is the rising sun that cannot be covered by anybody’s palm. With God on his side, he shall be elected speaker of the 9th House.

 

Kabir R. Zubair writes from Abuja