Tag Archives: Accepts

APC Accepts Gbajabiamila’s Emergence; Still Indifferent On Saraki, Ekweremadu

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The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, John Odigie-Oyegun, has expressed “relative satisfaction” with the choice of Femi Gbajabiamila as the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.

He, however, expressed indifference to the vote of confidence passed on the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, and other principal officers of the upper legislative chamber.

Mr. Gbajabiamila on Thursday emerged the House Leader. He had on June 9 contested the Speaker position but narrowly lost to Yakubu Dogara despite being the party’s choice for the seat.

The House however became factionalised with some queuing behind Mr. Gbajabiamila and others belonging to the Speaker’s group.

Though he initially pledged not to interfere in the choice of the leaders of the National Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday summoned the APC House members to a meeting in Aso Rock during which he gave them a marching order to resolve the lingering crisis in the lower chamber.

The president also directed the contending factions to meet with Mr. Odigie-Oyegun with a view to resolving the crisis.

Read More: premiumtimesng

House of Reps Leadership: Gbajabiamila Accepts Defeat

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Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, the official candidate of the APC who lost to Dogara in the leadership contest also pledged his allegiance to the new speaker of the House of Representatives.

Speaking, yesterday, when he led about 20 supporters of his aspiration to the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja, Gbajabiamila said they have accepted defeat.

He also overruled any legal action against the Dogara.

He said: “We have just gone through an election in the House, so we came to meet with the party regarding the election and how the party is going to remain strong and united and move forward so that we can deliver the deliverables and programmes of the party through the House.

“Go to court for what? I don’t know about the Senate. I can only speak for the House. Nothing happened in the House. We had an election. It is different from the Senate. In the Senate, people were deprived of their fundamental rights to express themselves and vote.

“We will work with the leadership of the House and the Speaker, so long as the party’s programmes are properly articulated and pursued on the floor of the House. We will work with the leader of the House. He is an APC member. He is not the Speaker of the APC. He is the speaker of the whole House.”

Asked if he was in support of the party’s position to take disciplinary action against the erring members, the former minority leader said: “That is the prerogative of the party. All I know is that in every association, there must be discipline. Whatever the party decides to do, that is for the party. It is not for me.”

Similarly, Mohammed Monguno, who ran for the office of the deputy speaker from Gbajabiamila’s camp but lost to Yusuf, also told journalists they would allow peace to reign in the interest of the nation.

He, however, regretted that some members of the party ignored APC’s decision and expressed his support for sanctions against the erring members.

“Definitely, if a party member errs, there must be sanction so that it will serve as a deterrent for others not to do same in future”, he said.

Credit: vanguardngr