Reps leadership battle continues as Dogara supporters reject lawmaker

The ongoing leadership tussle in the House of Representatives appears to have taken a turn for the worse as lawmakers loyal to Speaker, Yakubu Dogara have said that they won’t accept Femi Gbajabiamila as Majority Leader of the House.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), which both men belong to, had urged the Speaker and his supporters to respect the party and abide by its wishes to make Gbajabiamila Majority Leader.

Dogara’s supporters however said that they would rather ensure that federal character as enshrined in Nigeria’s constitution is adhered to in the appointment of Principal Officers of the House.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Abdulmumini Jibrin, a member representing Kano.

The statement reads in part:

“This so called party position, if allowed to stand, would result in the South West producing the Deputy Speaker and Leader of the House and North East would produce Speaker and Chief Whip of the House. This is most unfair and inequitable.”

“In fact, there is no evidence that any of the Organs of the Party, APC, such as the National Working Committee, the National Caucus or National Executive Committee, approved such an unjust outcome. We insist that this is not even the Party position.”

The Dogara group also urged Gbajabiamila’s supporters to accept the offer extended to them to produce the House Leader from among themselves.

Gbajabiamila was originally chosen by the APC to be its sole candidate for the Speakership position but he was defeated by Dogara who went ahead to contest in defiance of the party’s wishes.