Gbajabiamila Loses As Doguwa, Iriase Formally Accept Nominations for House Leader, Deputy

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

In what may be the final nail in the coffin of the

ambition of the former Minority Leader of the

House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila

to be the Majority Leader in the lower chamber of

the Eighth Assembly, three of his closest allies

and members of the Loyalists group have

accepted the proposal of the Speaker, Rt. Hon.

Yakubu Dogara for the distribution of principal

officers.

Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Hon. Pally Iriase and

Hon. Mohammed Monguno joined the

spokesperson of the Dogara Caucus known as

Consolidation Group, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumim on

Saturday to address a press conference in Abuja,

during which they declared support for the

proposal.

Monguno was tipped for Deputy Speaker in the

initially arrangement by the party.

Doguwa from the North West and Iriase from the

South South formally accepted their nominations

as House Leader and Chief Whip respectively, in

adherence to the distribution by the Speaker, who

also nominated Hon. Buba Jibrin from the North

Central as Deputy Leader and Hon. Chike Okafor

from the South East as Deputy Chief Whip.

Iriase, in his address said the Speaker’s proposal

as contained in his July 16, 2015 letter to the

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC),

Chief John Oyegun, ensures inclusiveness, equity,

unity and fairness in the distribution of the

principal positions.

“Mr. Speaker is mandated to ensure that Section

14 (3) which deals with Federal Character is

abided with in the composition of that arm of

government. I would urge those who are not very

conversant with this matter to look at Section 13

which mandates the Heads of the three arms of

government to ensure preservation and adherence

to the fundamental objectives and directive

principles of state affairs in Nigeria,” he said.

MORE TO FOLLOW