Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has described how Aminu Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto State, abandoned him in his prior ambition to become Speaker.
In a recent book entitled “Mr Speaker: The Legislative Life, Service, And Resilience of Femi Gbajabiamila,” written by two of his assistants, Dr. Charles Omole and Musa Abdullahi Krishi, Gbajabiamila made this revelation.
When it came his turn to speak, Tambuwal, whom he had helped elect as Speaker of the House in 2011, turned around and ignored him.
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Gbajabiamila claims that Tambuwal neglected to endorse him in 2015, instead choosing to stand with Yakubu Dogara.
He further stated that Tambuwal made sure that he was defeated by Dogara in his quest for Speaker in 2015.
Narrating the event, Gbajabiamila said, “Not only did Gbajabiamila work for Tambuwal’s emergence in 2011, but he also stood by him through thick and thin throughout the four-year tenure. For example, when there were attempts by the then executive arm to remove Tambuwal, following his defection to the APC, Gbajabiamila, along with like-minded, had to scale the National Assembly gate to access the House chamber to forestall the plot.
“Coming to 2015, with all the sacrifices that Gbajabiamila made for Tambuwal, it was taken for granted that the (now) Sokoto State governor would support him to emerge Speaker. But the outgoing Speaker had another plan – to have Dogara succeed him.”
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Gbajabiamila giving an insight into how the Sokoto State Governor betrayed him said, “When the time came for the speakership election, it was taken for granted.
“I didn’t even lose any sleep over who Tambuwal was supporting; he had become widely popular in the House at the time.
“He was close to my family. So, we were surprised when we started hearing little things here and there. Even when I started hearing that he was supporting someone else, I thought it was not true, until I found out that it was true. He never told me. Even when I asked him, he said it was impossible. Such was the height of treachery.
“Don’t forget that beyond speakership, there were about seven to eight of us that started the Tambuwal project for president, and came very close to clinching the ticket. We supported him fully. We met every night till 2, 3, 4 in the morning.”
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The Speaker also charged Tambuwal with abandoning his plans to lead the House after losing to Dogara.
The previous governor of Zamfara State, Yari, and Tambuwal approached him when it was time to compete for speaker again, urging him to replace his deputy, Monguno, with Dogara.
According to Gbajabiamila, he rejected the plan and demanded a meeting with Monguno to discuss his resignation in favor of Dogara.
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