By Boma Nwuke
Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, has picked the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, as his Chief Of Staff.
This is contained in a statement by the Speaker’s Chief of Staff, Olarenwaju Smart Wasiu, on his official Facebook page on Thursday morning.
The announcement of Gbajabiamila as the CoS comes after a meeting the President held with stakeholders that took place through Wednesday evening until Thursday morning.
The statement said “After several hours of meetings and consultations, President Bola Tinubu has made his first appointment, picking the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila as the President’s Chief of Staff”.
Gbajabiamila was elected into the House of Representatives on February 25 for a sixth term representing Surulere Federal Constituency Lagos state.
According to the statement, the President considered all potential candidates vying for the position among his supporters before deciding on Gbajabiamila.
The reason, our Correspondent gathered, is to assist in facilitating cordial working relations with lawmakers.
This scenario would force Gbajabiamila, who has not yet received his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to forfeit his election to the House of Representatives for a sixth term and join the executive branch of government.
Other party candidates, who had given up on running for the House of Representatives seat representing Surulere Constituency 1, would now get a second chance to do so as a result of this event.
The statement added that Gbajabiamila was picked by the President after a final meeting with stakeholders that ended on Thursday morning at the Villa in Abuja.
Tinubu’s decision to pick the Speaker ahead of James Faleke, who represents Ikeja Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives and handled his campaign effectively, was to get someone that could assist him persuade lawmakers in the National Assembly to accept his proposals.
