Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, may face impeachment at the plenary Tuesday, weeks to the end of his tenure after members of the lower chamber accused him of forging the house’s standing rules in favor of his ally as his successor
A source familiar with the matter revealed that about 100 lawmakers had registered their displeasure at the development and signed a notice of impeachment on the Speaker.
After the recently held general elections, in which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) maintained a majority of seats in both chambers, the race for leadership positions in the Senate and House of Representatives has commenced, with Mr. Gbajabiamila tapping Abbas Tajudeen (APC-Kaduna) as his top choice.
Ahead of the inauguration of a new session of the National Assembly next month, Mr. Gbajabiamila’s colleagues are accusing him of manipulating the standard rules of the parliament for Mr. Tajudeen, who many claimed is unpopular with other House members.
The lawmakers alleged that Mr. Gbajabiamila falsified the clause on the procedure for electing the speaker and his deputy in the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives (10th edition). They alleged that the doctored document provided that the house presiding officers would be elected through an open ballot against the existing rule of secret ballot.
“Section 2 (f) (iii) of the controversial clause captioned ‘election of presiding officers’ stated that ‘every member voting shall name clearly and in the open the candidate of his choice,’” the source told The Gazette.
