While the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) awaits the arrival of President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there are strong signs that his close friends’ local political enclave is locked in a cold war.
It was discovered that the crisis of trust stems from the competition for positions as well as preferences as plans for prominence gain steam ahead of the inauguration of the incoming administration.
According to a trustworthy source, fake campaigners lobbied for the appointment of James Faleke, Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, as Tinubu’s chief of staff last week.
According to the source, the duo’s fight for the CoS position has affected the race for Speaker of the Tenth House of Representatives. Other ardent supporters of the president-elect who have escalated their efforts include George Akume, the incumbent minister of special responsibility and inter-governmental relations, and Nasir El- Rufai, the leaving governor of Kaduna state. According to the source, both are vying for the position of Secretary to the Federation’s Government.
“The issues are too many to address to the public since all those involved are simply playing to the gallery and deceiving their supporters into believing that everything is fine among those of us close to the president-elect,” he continued.
Gbajabiamila and Faleke are not in a romantic relationship right now since they are both devoted to their campaigns for chief of staff. If you observe, both were initially playing the game silently.
“But, when Faleke saw Gbaja was already thinking of himself as chief of staff in waiting, he understood he needed to pick up his game as well.” He recently funded a number of groups to canvass for him.
“In addition, they’ve elevated the struggle to the issue of speakership in the incoming 10th House of Representatives.” Notwithstanding his protestations, it is widely assumed that Gbaja is advocating for Tajudeen Abbas.
“As a counter-force, Faleke has successfully avoided officially endorsing any candidate, preferring to wait for the parry to zone so that he can use his followers to oppose whoever Gbaja backs.” So it’s a waiting game for the two of them, and until the leader intervenes, it’ll be a lot of fun. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Gidado, the chairman of National Consciousness Movement, one of the campaign pressure groups, has vowed to rally House of Representatives members to vote against Abbas, whom he refers to as a “tool for Gbajabiamila.”
According to Gidado, the speaker’s move is supported by Jimi Benson, chairman of the House Committee on Defence, and Bunmi Tunji Ojo, his counterpart on the NDDC Committee. Gidado described last week’s meeting between the speaker and all potential speakers as a “ruse and smokescreen.”
The aspirants who held the in-house meeting with Gbajabiamila were the Deputy Speaker Idris Wase; Chairman, House Commit- tee on Appropriation, Aliyu Betara; Chairman, Commit- tee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi; Chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu; Chairman, Committee on Land Transport, Tajudeen Abbas; Chair- man, Committee on Disaster Preparedness, Abdulraheem Olawuyi; Chairman, Com- mittee on Water Resources, Sada Soli; Makki Yalleman and Sani Jaji. Gidado, on the other hand, said that Gbajabiamila is “working behind the scenes to influence the lower chamber.”
“How can the outgoing speaker insist on putting a stooge as speaker?” he wondered. Is he seeking for a different term? In terms of the north, the current speaker will not be allowed to impose his preference since it would be an insult. Worse, the speaker has been calling specific newbies and telling them that they must support Tajudeen Abbass as speaker and leave whoever they are working for.
This is uncalled for from a leader. Not just Abbass, but a number of other members, are qualified to lead the House. We know he’s dispatched his minions to spearhead the Abbass campaign.” Isn’t that enough? Why is he now vilifying others because he wants total control of the House even after he steps down as Speaker? As we watch events evolve, those of us from the north feel that we should assemble in the next one or two weeks to consider strategies to prevent Gbaja from imposing a speaker on us.” We have various options at our disposal, which we will untether as soon as he emerges from his hiding place.
