Femi Gbajabiamila, leader of the 8th House of Representatives, has been adopted by his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) as its preferred candidate for the position in the incoming 9th House of Representatives.
This was the outcome of the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and lawmakers-elect of the green chamber when the former hosted them to a dinner Tuesday evening.
At the meeting which had the presence of the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, the APC adopted Mr Gbajabiamila who hails from the South-West region.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, Lanre Issa-Onilu also noted that “the Deputy Speaker position has been zoned to the North Central.”
The APC had last month adopted Ahmed Lawan, the leader of the 8th Senate to succeed Bukola Saraki who is currently the Senate President.
Mr Saraki during his days in the ruling party, clinched the position against the wish of the APC. This was made possible as a result of an alliance he formed with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
At the House of Representatives, same scenario played out when Yakubu Dogara while in APC sought and emerged Speaker of the lower chamber with the help of the PDP.
What happened during the formation of the 8th Senate might repeat itself because the aspiration of Mr Lawan is being threatened by some members of his party who are also interested in clinching the position.
One of them, Senator Ali Ndume, has vowed to continue his campaign for the top office even though his party has cautioned to shelve his ambition.
