Hottestgistnaija.com
By Kola Popson
The current Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who has just been reelected into the House on the platform of All Progressive Congress, is reported to have turned the orientation gathering of the newly elected federal legislators to a campaign ground towards the actualization of his speakership ambition.
The orientation programme is an induction certificate course for the federal legislators-elect and it is being organized by the National Institute of Legislative Studies with the purpose of acquainting the new legislators with legislative procedures and exercise in the National Assembly, as well as preparing them ahead for the task of lawmaking in the forthcoming 8th National Assembly.
Since the opening of the induction yesterday, our reliable source noted that Hon. Gbajabiamila has been campaigning to the new and returning members of the House of Representatives, pleading for their supports and votes for the realization of his desire to emerge the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. As the induction, which will last for four days, continues today, it was reliably gathered that Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has continued with his campaign trend and plea to his colleagues in the House of Representatives and will not stop doing so until the last day. According to our reliable source, Hon. Gbajabiamila believes this is the best platform for him to woo and win the incoming and returning members of the Federal House of Representatives to his side. Indeed, information has it that the ambitious lawmaker has a group from the House campaigning and working for him.
It is worth noting that Hon Femi Gbaja-biamila will be returning to the 8th National Assembly as a four term federal legislator of the House of Representatives, having been in the House since 2003 representing Surulere Federal Constituency 1 of Lagos State. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila was declared the winner of the last House of Representative election in Surulere Federal Constituency 1 after scoring 21, 715 votes while Mr Tony Ashi Kodi of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 14, 550 votes. However, Hon Gbajabiamila’s victory is still subjective to a pending legal feat, which has been instituted by the PDP candidate on the premise that the election was marred with irregularities.
It would be recalled that in September 2011, it was reportedly alleged that Hon. Gbajabiamila was implicated in a bribery scandal, with one lawmaker threatening to expose him to the media if he did not pay him back entirely.
Similarly, there was an allegation in 2007 that the Supreme Court of Georgia in the United States had revealed that one Femi Gbaja with State bar number 288-330 was suspended from legal practice for 36 months, owing to his corrupt conduct, which led him defrauding a client of the sum of $25,000, before he eventually fled to Nigeria to start a political career. The allegation was that the man, Gbaja had accepted payment of $25,000 as a personal injury claims and deposited those funds in his attorney trust account in January 2003. However, it was alleged that he did not disburse the fund to his client; instead he withdrew the funds, closed his practice and left for Nigeria.
Today some people believe that it is the same Femi who has been at the National Assembly as the Representative of the Surulere Federal Constituency 1 of Lagos State since 2003. It was alleged that he intentionally and dubiously changed his name from Femi Gbaja to Femi Gbaja-biamila. Whether this is true or not, the fact remains that the man, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who is known for his vibrant criticism of issues and matters, cannot claim to be a saint of all. On the other hand, many believe his oratory and eloquence as well as his experience in Law-related issues and legislative matters will make him the best candidate for this vital position of the number four citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Whether his campaign at the orientation ground will yield positive result for him or not, time will surely tell.
