Lasun and Gbajabiamila set to battle it out for speakership as APC zones the office to the southwest

HONOURABLES Yusuf Lasun and Femi Gbajabiamila have begun jostling for the position of speaker of the House of Representatives after it emerged that the ruling All Progressives Congress may zone the position to the southwest if it wins next year's elections.

At the moment, Hon Lasun from Osun State is the deputy speaker, while Hon Gbajabiamila from Lagos State is the majority leader. With current speaker Hon Yakubu Dogara having defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), both men constitute the leadership of the APC in the lower chamber.

Last week, both legislators were given automatic tickets to return to the House of Representatives by the APC and immediately began jostling for the number four position in the country. Hon Gbajabiamila, a Lagos lawyer, has represented Surulere Federal Constituency since 2003, while Hon Lasun, a trained engineer, came to the House in 2011 to represent Irepodun/Olurunda/Osogbo/Orolu Federal Constituency of Osun State and became deputy speaker in 2015.

In July, Hon Lasun contested for the APC’s governorship primary in Osun State and lost. He, however, protested the outcome of the election won by Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola on the grounds that the party opted for direct primaries instead of the indirect primaries initially agreed by the parties.

However, the election went ahead and the deputy speaker polled 21,975 votes to place second behind Alhaji Oyetola who scored 127,017 votes. Unhappy with the outcome, Hon Lasun did not bother to contest for the House of Representatives primary for the 2019 election but was later placated by the party to support Alhaji Oyetola in the rerun against the Peoples Democratic Party candidate Senator Ademola Adeleke and later granted a soft-landing by way of the automatic ticket.

Both  politicians are working on the calculation that the APC would control a majority in the House and be primed to take the speakership come next year. In 2015, the sudden emergence and miraculous victory of the current speaker Hon Dogara, altered the zoning arrangement in the Hose after he defeated Hon Gbajabiamila by just eight votes.

One APC source said: “Lasun’s ticket has caused trepidation in the Gbajabiamila camp as the Lagos lawyer must now work harder if he hopes to become the next speaker. From available information, Lasun is very much prepared to contest the seat as well and having been the deputy speaker, he has natural advantage over Gbajabiamila in line of seniority.”