Gbajabiamila reveals how Tinubu stopped him from being deputy speaker to Tambuwal
Gbajabiamila reveals how Tinubu stopped him from being deputy speaker to Tambuwal
By Matthew Atungwu
The Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has shed light on the role played by the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu that led to his decision to reject the offer to become the deputy speaker during the tenure of Hon. Aminu Tambuwal in the 8th Assembly.
The details were encapsulated in the book titled: ‘Mr. Speaker’ co-authored by his Chief Press Secretary, Musa Krishi and Charles Omole, to mark Hon. Gbajabiamila’s 60th birthday, including his role during the third term agenda of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
Hon. Gbajabiamila recalled how the former Governor of Lagos State, stopped him from taking up the position of Deputy Speaker to current Sokoto State governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal whose election as Speaker was orchestrated by him.
He said: “my Party (ACN) leaders had never heard of Tambuwal, they didn’t know him, but I introduced him to them.
“They called for an interview; they met with him; they asked questions, and that was it. I turned that campaign around because our members had closed shop once they heard of Mulikat’s earlier endorsement.
“Whoever my party endorsed was going to win the election, so everybody was gnashing their teeth and really upset, and they had closed shop until I revived that campaign again,” Hon. Gbajabiamila said during the chat with the authors of the book – ‘Mr. Speaker’.
According to him, Hon. Tambuwal and other members approached the ACN leaders and suggested that he should become the Deputy Speaker from the Minority, saying “while everyone was excited about it, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for caution and stood his ground, saying we don’t want a Deputy Speaker.
“That’s the foresight of Asiwaju, we talk about. Later on, when people asked Asiwaju why, he said: ‘one, as Deputy Speaker, you’d just be tied to the apron strings of the Speaker, so whatever the Speaker does and does not do, you are going to be part and parcel of it, and the party will take the blame.’
“You would have to own his credits and also own his discredits, too’. He said anywhere in the world, the Minority or Opposition Leader is way beyond the Deputy Speaker. He (Tinubu) said you’ll make it politically; you’ll make a name for yourself more than you would if you were Deputy Speaker, and he turned out to be right.”
Speaking further on the role played by Tinubu during his tutelage period in the political space, Hon. Gbajabiamila recalled how some political leaders from Surulere Federal Constituency of Lagos State who strived to truncate his political career, were checkmated by his political godfather.
While giving a vivid account of the unpopular third-term agenda saga, Speaker Gbajabiamila affirmed that he was offered the sum of N100 million by promoters of the failed third-term agenda at the twilight of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure.
While recounting his experience during the tussle, Hon. Gbajabiamila disclosed that he was offered the sum of N100 million while others were given the sum of N50 million largesse.
