Femi Gabaja resigns as reps member to join Tinubu’s presidency
Femi Gbajabiamila, until on Wednesday the speaker of house of representatives, has resigned to resume as the chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu.
The President had recently announced Gbajabiamila as his chief of staff and another former senator, George Akume, as the secretary to the government of the federation.
Gbajabiamila had spent little over 20years as lawmaker representing Surulere federal constituency in Lagos.
He officially stepped down as speaker of the lower parliament after the election of Hon. Tajudeen Abass as his successor.
The new speaker is believed to be Gbaja’s pick for the position, a development that stirred disaffection with his (Gbaja) deputy of four years and equally a contender for the post, Hon. Idris Wase.
Wase had persuaded himself to be the heir apparent to the coveted position, given that he had, only four years ago, paved the way for Gbajabiamila’s emergence by stepping down from the speakership race.
His selection as Gbaja’s deputy was a compromise option aimed at forming formidable bulwark against another equally strong contestant, Hon. Umar Bago.
Gbajabiamila appears to have played the same card that saw him losing the speakership position in 2015, after the then outgoing speaker, and later, Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal, ditched him to support Hon. Yakubu Dogara.
At the time, Tambuwal – a member of then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)- rebelled and teamed with the opposition Action Congress to defeat the presidency’s and his party’s choice, Hon. Mulikat Akanda. His becoming the speaker had inputs from Gbajabiamila and Hon. Oyetunji Ojo, both of who led him to Tinubu for his support. Ojo, now out of the house, is married to Tinubu’s first daughter, Folashade.
