Gbajabiamila rejects Deputy Speaker offer

Defeated House of Representatives candidate for the Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila of theAll Progressives Congress (APC),  yesterday turned down the offer of a Deputy Speaker resulting in Hon. Suileman Lasun Yusuff being elected to the office .

Former Deputy Majority Leader, Hon Leo Ogor (Delta, PDP) equally declined to run for the office despite pressure mounted on him by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Lower Chamber to do so. It would have been a replay of the scenario in the Senate if he had agreed to run and voted for by his colleagues in the chamber.

Yusuff (Osun, APC) beat Hon Mohammed Monguno (Borno, APC), to clinch the office. He polled 203 votes as against Monguno’s 153. He is a second term lawmaker. He was sworn in immediately by the Clerk.

However, soon after swearing in Hon Yakubu Dogara as Speaker, his camp reached out to Gbajabiamila to take the slot of a deputy speaker. Dogara personally held a brief discussion with him in a bid to convince him to accept nomination for the office. More than 20 minutes were spent by both camps trying to reach a decision on it.

But despite the appeal, he declined the offer. Instead, his camp insisted that Monguno should go ahead and contest for the office.  Several lawmakers made efforts to convince Monguno to step down for Yusuff since he is from the same geopolitical zone with Dogara,  but he rejected the appeal.

Following his insistence on contesting,  election was held for him and Yusuff