The majority leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has finally opened up on his relationship with Sokoto state governor and former speaker of the house, Aminu Tambuwal.
Two weeks ago, Tambuwal had said the issue of competence, rather than any reason, led to his endorsement of Yakubu Dogara by as the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Speaking with popular TV personality, Kadaria Ahmed, on her programme,‘Straight Talk,’ which was aired on Channels Television last night, Gbajabiamila revealed that he is not on speaking terms with Tambuwal, because he felt betrayed and disappointment at Tambuwal’s comments.
He said: “It’s a comment I would rather ignore, I feel disappointed in that statement. Looking at that statement, there are many things wrong with that statement, which I don’t want to join issues with. But let me just say this since this is ‘straight talk’.
I feel disappointed that a speaker to whom much had been given would chop down the issue of leadership and competence to the issue of procurement. That is the last thing I would expect him to say.
“To seat here and say there is no sense of betrayal would be lying. Of course, there is a sense of betrayal, but it’s not something I dwell on. Betrayal unfortunately happens to be the order of the day in politics, particularly in Nigeria. So do I feel betrayed? Yes.
“Tambuwal was one of my closest friends when he ran for speaker; I think I single-handedly pushed his speakership bid. But again, he must have reasons why he did what he did. That must be respected; I just wished he had made that known.”
When he was asked if he had spoken with Tambuwal since the emergence of Dogara, he said:
“No I have not, I am not crossing paths with him, he is in Sokoto, I’m in Abuja; you might want to direct that question to him. Who do you think should be reaching out to who?
“When it was clear we were going to win, the other side walked out. Tambuwal, who is my friend, did not call once to congratulate me, he never sent a message, and I haven’t spoken to him since then.”
Three weeks back, Dogara hailed Tambuwal for his appointment as a life member of Nigeria’s body of benchers, describing his successor as a man who “has written his name in gold.”
