Sole female aspirant for House of Reps speaker asks Gbajabiamila to stand down for her

ISIUKWUATO/Umunneochi Federal Constituency in Abia State member of the House of Representatives Hon Nkeiruka Onyejeocha has pleaded with her colleague Hon Femi Gbajabiamila to stand down for her in the quest to become the next speaker.

Hon Onyejeocha, 49, a fourth time member of the house and an ex-commissioner for manpower development in Abia State, is currently the chairman of the House Committee on Aviation. She was recently re-elected as an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker and is on pole position to become speaker if the position is zoned to the southeast geo-political zone.

Under Nigeria's informal zoning arrangement, all the six geo-political zones get one of the top offices and with the president and vice president coming from the northwest and southwest respectively, the four other zones are vying for the National Assembly leadership. With the senate presidency looking like it will go to the northeast and the deputy senate presidency to the south-south, Hon Onyejeocha believes the speakership of the House of Representatives should go to the southeast.

However, the APC leadership is backing Hon Gbajabiamila, the current majority leader of the house, who represents Surulere 1 Federal Constituency in Lagos State. Hon Onyejeocha has thus appealed to him to stand down in the interest of fairness as doing so would not only allow the southeast to get the slot but also enable a woman to become speaker.

Hon Onyejeocha said: “I respect my party chairman and what the party has said it intends to do but I am appealing to them, it is not yet late to withdraw their decision and include a woman from the two geo-political zones left out in 2015. I know that the leader of the house Femi Gbajabiamila, who is a good gentleman and good leader but there is a time when any man who is a leader needs to make necessary sacrifices and that time is now.

“This opportunity comes only once when a leader will look at himself and say, it’s not about me, it’s about Nigeria. I also believe that Nigeria needs healing and somebody has to pay the sacrifice for us to move to the next level, even if it means deciding that speakership should go to another zone.”

She added that zoning the speakership to the southeast will address the demand for equity from the zone. Since President Muhammadu assumed office in 2015, the southeast has been a dogged by numerous protests as Igbos feel marginalised by his government.

 “As a woman who has distinguished herself and contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria, the APC should use the opportunity of my expression of interest in the position of speaker of the House of Representatives to fulfil its promise to Nigerians. Our party promised it would increase women participation in the governance of the country,” Hon Onyejeocha added.