Speakership: Buhari, APC adopt Gbajabiamila

…Zone principal posts to N’Central, S’East, S’South

…You can’t reap where you didn’t sow, Oshiomhole tells PDP

Mathew Dadiya, Abuja

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has intensified its strategy at ensuring that it produces the leadership of the National Assembly as President Muhammadu Buhari and the party adopted the present House Leader, Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, for the speakership of the House of Representatives in the ninth assembly.

The endorsement was given on Tuesday at a dinner organised by President Muhammadu Buhari with all APC members of the House of Representatives-elect, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

At the dinner, the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said the party was not ready to share what belonged to it with the opposition party.

Oshiomhole said that new members elected on the platform of the party in the House can also chair committees.

According to him, if you are elected, it means you are tested and trusted.

He said: “The NWC had a meeting with Reps-elect three weeks ago and it was very revealing, their interventions is a clear confirmation that Nigerians did not make mistake by electing them.

“They have deep knowledge of the constitution would confuse many that they were not first timers but seasoned lawmakers. They all on their own speaker after speaker, across the zone, pledged to work together for PMB to leave him landmark foundation for a new Nigeria.”

The ruling party chairman maintained that he was confident that this time around, the party will produce the leadership of the National Assembly.

He noted that Nigerians were “very hungry Nigerians ready to deliver on the mandates at the campaigns.”

He described the present leadership of the National Assembly as hostile, saying, “they created tension in the system, delayed budget needlessly, and created all obstacles to frustrate the government.

“In life mistakes are permitted but it becomes a problem if the mistake is repeated twice. We are determined not to repeat the mistakes of 2015 in 2019, we have learnt our lesson.

Out of 223 APC elected members, about 67 were re-elected, the rest are new members.

“In other climes, you don’t go into coalition when you are in the majority, you do so when you don’t have the numbers. We have the numbers, out of 306, Nigerians elected 223 APC members because they don’t want Mr. President to face the trauma of 2015.

“Most of those who decamped were rejected and even those who led it were uprooted. We cannot as a party which has a comfortable majority, entrust critical committees in the hands of the PDP or opposition.

“If Nigerians wanted them, they could have voted them. In the days of PDP, every committee were chaired by PDP members due to Saraki, Dogara selfish, greedy nature.

“We do not need to do business with the devil for us to survive in the ninth Assembly.

“In African family, we sit down in a closed door to address issues, the good news is that there is a role for everyone.

“Neither Mr President nor the party expects the National Assembly to be rubber stamps, we don’t have rubbers…But we will not fight in Wuse market.

“Both the re-elected and new members are entitled to heading committees.

“We have asked our people not to share what belongs to us with other party members.

“I don’t have apologies against forces of retrogression,” the APC chairman said.

Honourable Abdulmumin Jibril, who spoke to State House correspondents after the meeting, said that Gbajabiamila was adopted as the party’s choice for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He also said that the four positions were also zoned to the North Central, South East and South South among others.