At least 178 members-elect into the House of Representatives have backed the aspiration of Femi Gbajabiamila, Leadership of the House to become Speaker of the lower legislative Chamber in the 9th National Assembly which would be proclaim in June.
The newly elected members belonging to different political parties declared their support for Gbajabiamila, the endorsed candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC after a consultative meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
Luke Onofiok, a member-elect from Akwa Ibom State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP who spoke on behalf of other members said they have decided to put their weight behind Gbajabiamila because of his pedigree in the National Assembly and the need to have a bi-partisan approach in tackling the country’s challenges.
“This is a conglomeration of people of different parties. I am of the PDP, we have members of APC here, we have members of APGA and we have people from A.A, we have people from SDP and we have people from ADC. It’s a multi-party arrangement”, Onofiok stated.
He declared that, “we decided to convene ourselves as newly elected members of the National Assembly. We have acknowledged the fact that in this country today, the challenges that we have, we need a bi- partisan approach to solve the problem of Nigeria and the only person that show that credibility, that has shown that capacity, that has all it takes even as reflected in his manifesto to carry the entire parties along in resolving and solving the issues of Nigeria is Gbajabiamila
“The man who will not mortgage the independence of the legislature but will at the same time not engage the executive in a fiasco. A man who will build a good relationship between the executive and the legislature, between the legislature and the judiciary. A man who will care about the welfare of Nigerians, a man who will put the interest of Nigerians above his personal interest and a man who will put the interest of Nigeria above the party”.
“We have resolved today, to have come from our different constituencies. We have come as newly elected members having looked through the credentials and the CV we have found in Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, a man who has the capacity to lead the 9th National Assembly as the Speaker of 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 let God down”.
James Kwen, Abuja
