SPEAKERSHIP: Gbajabiamila’s Aspiration Receives Boost As A’Ibom Speaker, Reps-Elect Endorse Him

The aspiration of House of Representatives Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives has received another boost following his endorsement by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Speaker, Onofiok Luke and 177 reps-elect members.

After an extensive meeting with Gbajabiamila, Luke who led the other reps-elect noted that those endorsing the Majority Leader are drawn from different political platforms.

“I am the Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and here with me are newly-elected members of the House of Representatives, and this is a conglomeration of people from different parties,” Luke said.

“I am of the Peoples Democratic Party. We have members of the All Progressives Congress here. We have members of the All Progressive Grand Alliance. We have people from the Action Alliance and we have people from the African Democratic Congress. It’s a multi-party arrangement.

“We decided to convene ourselves as newly-elected members of the House of Representatives to look at the emergence of the next leadership of the 9th Assembly.

“In doing so, we looked through the antecedents and credentials of those who are aspiring to lead the National Assembly. We acknowledge the fact that this country today; with the challenges that we have, we need a bipartisan approach to solve our problems.

“We need a man that has what it takes as reflected in his manifesto, to carry all parties along in resolving and solving the issues of Nigeria; the man who will not mortgage the independence of the legislature but at the same time would not engage the executive in unnecessary fisticuffs.

“We need a man who will build a good relationship between the executive and the legislature as well as between the legislature and the judiciary.

“We need a man who will care about the welfare of Nigerians; a man who will put the interest of Nigeria above his personal interest; and a man who will put the interest of Nigeria above that of the party.

“We have found Femi Gbajabiamila as a man who has a capacity to lead the 9th National Assembly as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“We know that he is not going to let Nigerians down and we know and believe that he is not going to let us down and we know and believe that he is not going to let God down,” Luke concluded.

Gbajabiamila who had contested for the position of House Speaker in 2015 lost to the current Speaker, Yakubu Dogara has also been endorsed by his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC with the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari, serving and newly-elected governors, and several other interest groups, including the North-West Democratic Front.