TheCable

Femi Gbajabiamila, majority leader of the house of representatives, says he has put behind the issues that arose during the leadership tussle that rocked the lower chamber.

Though the preferred candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Gbajabiamila lost the speakership position to Yakubu Dogara by eight votes.

On Monday, Aminu Tambuwal, who was an ally of Gbajabiamila in the 7th assembly, spoke on why he decided to pitch his tent with Dogara instead of his loyalist.

“I have strong affinity with Hon Femi (Gbajabiamila). He was closer to me than Dogara. But when talking about leadership and collective decisions, sentiments have to be put aside,” he had said.

Responding through a message on @femigbaja, his Twitter account, the lawmaker said: “Alhaji Tambuwal has finally spoken. For me I have moved on and I can only wish him the best in his future undertakings.”

Tambuwal had said: “I’m not here to tell you that my support made Dogara the speaker. Two factors worked for Dogara; one is God and the second is his competence.

“The acknowledgement of Dogara’s competence did not start with me. It started from the time of Hon Patricia and Etteh and Hon Dimeji Bankole when they entrusted him with a sensitive position of the chairman of house services committee.

“The committee is one of the most sensitive in the legislature. Apart from taking care of the welfare of members, the committee oversees all procurement processes. As the speaker, I only did what my predecessors did by giving Dogara this sensitive position.

“No person, as far as I know, has served as chairman of the house services committee in two dispensations. Dogara broke that jinx. All through my tenure, I brought Dogara close to me because I found in him a person who is competent, accommodating, and with capacity to lead.

“Anyone doubting Dogara’s ability to lead should ask members of the 7th assembly how he handled their matter. So I supported Dogara because he was competent to deliver on any task given to him and his emergence as the speaker was based on merit and divined by God.”