…To Replace GBAJABIAMILA In House Of Reps
It is no longer news that the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has since taken up a new responsibility under the President Bola Tinubu led government. He is now the Chief of Staff to the President, a position only given to trusted allies of a sitting president. He was the member representing Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State until his appointment. Preparations are already in top gear to produce a replacement for the former Speaker. But from the information reaching City People, it is going to be a big battle within the Surulere caucus of the party to agree on the candidate to put forward.
Already, a lot of schemings and politicking have started taking place behind the scene. Camps are being lobbied and top hierarchy leaders of the party are being wooed for support by the prospective candidates. At least about five members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have indicated their interest to fly the party’s ticket in the by-election that will produce the replacement of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.
Gbajabiamila who represented Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State, had been re-elected for the 6th term in the 2023 general elections and had spent 20 years at the lower Chamber to represent his constituency.
He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 and has won five straight elections since his debut.
Gbajabiamila, a lawyer, had previously served as minority whip, minority leader, opposition leader, and majority leader before getting elected as speaker in 2019 after failure to clinch the position in 2015. Accordingly, the lawmaker tendered his resignation letter on the floor of the House of Representatives, following his resumption of work as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
A source who is familiar with the underground politicking going on in the Surulere 1 Federal Constituency, revealed to City People that there are about five aspirants already who are regarded as the top front runners for the replacement of the former Speaker.
Three major contenders have emerged: former member of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Kabir Lawal popularly called Caesar; former acting Chairman of Surulere Local Government, Agboola Dabiri; and current Chairman of the party in Surulere Local Government, Fuad Laguda. The trio were touted to be political disciple of the Chief of Staff and many believed that choice of the party’s candidate would be among them.
They each have their supporters within the rank and file of the party: Caesar arguably has the largest grassroots support among the three; Dabiri has huge support from the elite while Laguda is a mixture of both the grassroots and the elite drawing much experience from his being a former staff of the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS).
After much politicking and intrigues, City People can authoritatively reveal that Gbajabiamila may have settled for Laguda as the candidate of the party for the coming bye-election.
According to investigations by this medium, Gbajabiamila had informed members of his group that they should go and work for the emergence of Laguda as the candidate.
However, it is yet to be seen whether Gbajabiamila’s choice tallies with the other groups in the local government, particularly the group belonging to the former Governor of the state and the immediate past Minister for Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN.
The Fashola group has a distinct structure and wishing them away will not augur well for the anointed aspirant. We should also quickly mention the influence of the newly elected Chairman of Lagos State Football Association (LSFA), Ogboni Fouad Oki. It was further learnt that a mock primary had actually been conducted among apex leaders of the party in Surulere on Sunday which threw up Laguda.
One of the leaders who spoke with City People on the condition of anonymity confirmed that while Dabiri is already in Abuja, Lawal had agreed to step down to pave the way for the emergence of Laguda.
“We did the mock primary and Laguda was unanimously nominated as candidate to represent the party. We decided on Laguda because he has the experience as a seasoned politician and also an accomplished public servant,” he said.
The publicity secretary of APC in the state, Hon. Seye Oladejo, however said the party would still follow due process in selecting a candidate and assured that the candidate would be someone committed to the ideals of progressive politics.
Apart from these aforementioned three, there are two other contenders who are also eyeing the former speaker’s seat. One of the two contenders is a former Executive Chairman of Surulere local government. He is also an equally strong contender and one with a great deal of influence within thye constituency too. He did extremely well while he was chairman and is hugely loved and respected by the constituents. But his biggest obstacle lies in the fact that he does not belong to the Femi Gbajabiamila caucus. He is not very close to the former speaker either. And because Femi Gbajabiamila is regarded as the APC leader in Surulere, the word out there is that he will ultimately name his own successor and this has not gone down well with many, including this former chairman. They do not like the fact Gbajabiamila intends to impose his own candidate over them. This is why this same chairman had to take off to Abuja to see Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to lobby him and get him to prevail upon Gbajabiamila to hands off the selection of a new candidate follow due process.
“I met with Mr. President at his Abuja residence and he has given me his word the former speaker will not impose any candidate over us. I also met with a few other top members of the party in Abuja, and the resolve is that the entire selection of our candidate for the bye-election will follow due process,” he said.
Another contender, a female, Jamila Omobolanle Mu’azu – Olukosi, is the fifth person vying to occupy the vacated seat of the former Speaker. She is also worried that the former speaker has indicated that he may eventually decide who replaces him. And she, like a few others, does not think this will speak well for the party. She has resolved to reach Mr. President to ask that the party should look at replacing Gbajabiamila with a tested and trusted lady.
Appealing to President Tinubu and his wife, Senator Oluremi, to ensure she achieves success in her ambition, Mu’azu-Olukosi, in a press release made available to newsmen in Lagos, reminded the President of his promise to ensure that the female gender enjoys 35 percentage participation in his government at all levels.
She declared that securing the blessing of the party will be an affirmation of the President’s pledge.
According to her, it will also be a breakthrough for women against political marginalisation and also, a liberation for the people to get quality and productive representation at the House of Representatives.
Mu’azu-Olukosi assured that her educational qualifications, professional experience as well as human and material capacities, were enough to help her represent her constituency efficiently.
A serial entrepreneur, philanthropist and progressive, she boasts of an excellent skill and capacity in managing people, having possessed a Master’s degree in Youth Development Studies from the Open University, England.
She has a Bachelor of Business and Human Resources Management from the University of Plymouth in England.
The bye-election will come up soon and a winner will be announced. Whether the winner will be Femi Gbajabiamila’s anointed candidate, Laguda, remains to be seen. But one thing is certain, the Surulere federal constituency 1is one of the most sophisticated constituencies in Lagos blessed with some of the brightest minds in politics. It won’t be a walk in the park for whoever emerges winner.
-WALE LAWAL