By Ogochukwu Isioma
Femi Gbajabiamila, current Speaker of the House of Representatives, has been reportedly chosen to take on the role of Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
The news of Gbajabiamila’s choice was sighted on the media account of Olanrewaju Smart Wasiu, Chief of Staff to Gbajabiamila, on Thursday.
It said the decision to pick Gbajabiamila was done by Tinubu after evaluating all possible candidates aspiring for the post among his loyalists, after several meetings and consultations.
The report claimed that Gbajabiamila was picked by the President after a final meeting with stakeholders that ended on Thursday morning at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Tinubu’s decision to pick the speaker, it was learnt, was to get someone that could assist him to persuade lawmakers in the National Assembly to accept his government’s proposals and policies.
The implication
If the news making the rounds is true, it means Speaker Gbajabiamila, who was during the 2023 general elections, re-elected into the House of Reps, will have to forgo his sixth term seat as member of parliament by resigning from the office in June.
Unlike his colleagues, Gbajabiamila, who currently represents Surulere Federal Constituency 1 of Lagos State, is yet to receive his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission, fueling his rumoured ambition to become President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff.
INEC is expected to conduct a fresh election in that constituency to create an opportunity for other aspirants within the party that had shelved their ambition to represent the constituency in parliament.
Others believed to be eyeing the Chief of Staff position included James Faleke, who represents Ikeja Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives; and Raji Babatunde Fashola, former Lagos governor and former Minister of Works and Housing.
