Majority leader of the House of
Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Wednesday, said he wished the former
Speaker and Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal well in his future
‘political’ undertakings.
Reacting to comments credited to
his one-time boss and ally, Tambuwal on Monday, where he was quoted as saying
that he supported the current Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara to clinch the
Speakership of the House ahead Gbajabiamila because the former was more
competent and had better leadership skills, Gbajabiamila who represents
Surulere 1 Constituency in the House, tweeted via his handle @femigbaja
“Alhaji Tambuwal has finally spoken. For me I have moved on and I can only wish
him the best in his future undertakings.”
Recall that while speaking for
the first time on his role in the House leadership election, Mr. Tambuwal gave
reasons why he fully supported Dogara ahead of Gbajabiamila, when leaders of
Sayawa Community of Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa Local Government Areas of Bauchi
State, (Dogara’s constituency) paid him a “thank you” visit to show
appreciation to him for supporting Mr. Dogara.
The former Speaker was quoted to
have said: “The issue of competence led eight out of 10 members of the body of
Principal Officers of the 7th Assembly” to endorse Mr. Dogara.”
Dogara is more competent,
accommodating and more capable to lead than Mr. Gbajabiamila, Mr. Tambuwal
said, and added “sentiments have to be put aside”.
Explaining further his reasons
for supporting Dogara, the Sokoto strongman said: “The survival of the
legislature as an important arm of government made it imperative that competent
hands are headhunted to be its leaders”.
“Eight out of ten members of the
Body of Principal Officers in the last Assembly supported Dogara’s aspiration,”
he said. “Only Hon Femi (Gbajabiamila) and Hon Datti Ahmad supported Femi.”
“I have strong affinity with Hon
Femi. He was closer to me than Dogara. But when talking about leadership and
collective decisions, sentiments have to be put aside. I’m not here to tell you
that my support made Dogara the Speaker, no. Two things made Dogara to become
the Speaker, one is God and two, Dogara’s competence.
He continued, “The
acknowledgement of Dogara’s competence did not start with me. It started from
the time of Hon Patricia and Etteh and Hon Dimeji Bankole when they entrusted
him with a sensitive position of the Chairman of House Services Committee.
“The committee is one of the most
sensitive in the legislature. Apart from taking care of the welfare of members,
the committee oversees all procurement processes. As the Speaker, I only did
what my predecessors did by giving Dogara this sensitive position.
“No person, as far as I know, has ever served
as chairman of the House Services committee in two dispensations. Dogara broke
that jinx. All through my tenure, I brought Dogara close to me because I found
in him a person who is competent, accommodating, and with capacity to lead.
“Anyone doubting Dogara’s ability
to lead, should ask members of the 7th Assembly how he handled their matter. So
we supported Dogara not for any reason but because he was competent to deliver
on any task given to him.”
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