Femi Gbajaniamila, who is leaving his job as Speaker of the House of Representatives, has been named President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Chief of Staff.
Remember that Gbajamiamila, the current Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, won a record 6th term of office for the Surulere Federal Constituency of Lagos State in the House.
On Thursday morning, his Chief of Staff, Olanrewaju Smart Wasiu, posted a message on his official Facebook page that 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.”
The President chose Gbajabiamila, the statement said, after he looked at all his friends who could have been candidates for the job and decided on Gbajabiamila.
With this change, Gbajabiamila, who still needs to get his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), would have to give up his election to the House of Representatives for a sixth term and join the executive branch of government instead.
This change would also give other party members who had given up on running for the House of Representatives to serve the Surulere Constituency 1 another chance.
Sources said the President chose Gbajabiamila at the end of a final meeting with stakeholders at the Villa in Abuja on Thursday morning.
The statement also said that Tinubu chose the Speaker instead of James Faleke, who represented the Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and ran his campaign well because he wanted someone to help convince National Assembly members to accept his ideas.