Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has finally revealed the role he played when Aminu Tambuwal contested for the speakership of the house of representatives in 2011.
Obasanjo spoke in Abuja on Saturday at the colloquium organised to mark the 60th birthday of the former governor of Sokoto.
In June 2011, Tambuwal, then a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was elected speaker of the house of representatives following an internal parliamentary plot against the party’s zoning arrangement.
The position was zoned to the south-west — with presidency in the south-south, vice-presidency in the north-west, senate presidency in the north-central and deputy senate presidency in the south-east.
But Tambuwal, from the north-west, teamed up with Emeka Ihedioha (south-east) to break the zoning arrangement, becoming speaker and deputy.
Tambuwal’s coup was made possible in conjunction with Bola Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which had a sizeable number of members in the house of reps.
The south-west would later complain of marginalisation in the Goodluck Jonathan government while Tambuwal later defected to the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC).
‘I SUPPORTED TAMBUWAL’
Speaking about the events leading up to Tambuwal’s election as speaker, Obasanjo said the PDP leadership favoured Mulikat Akande-Adeola, a lawmaker representing the Ogbomosho north/Ogbomosho south/Oriire federal constituency of Oyo state, for the position.
Obasanjo added that Akande-Adeola was backed because of the party’s desire to sustain gender inclusion in leadership.
He said the federal lawmakers rejected the party’ decision and exercised their “constitutional independence” by insisting on Tambuwal.
“Our thinking was that if, for the first time, a woman had become speaker of the house, she should be encouraged to remain there,” Obasanjo said.
“But your members thought otherwise, and you made your decision. And we supported your decision. Initially, even you were not sure of where we would stand, but we stood with you.
“One thing I saw in you was humility. Greatness that does not include humility is greatness that is hollow. Your greatness is not hollow.”
Also speaking, former President Goodluck Jonathan, who joined the event virtually, said members of the house of representatives believed so much in Tambuwal’s leadership when he was the speaker.
“When he was speaker, I was the president, and we had some disagreements,” Jonathan said.
“But one thing I must give to Tambuwal is that members of the house believed so much in him.”
The event was attended by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra; Akande-Adeola; David Mark, former senate president; Abba Moro, senate minority leader; Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto diocese; former speakers of the house of representatives Patricia Etteh and Yakubu Dogara; Eyinnaya Abaribe, a senator; and Ahmed Dangiwa, minister of housing.
Former governors present included Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Aminu Masari (Katsina), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Gbenga Daniel (Ogun), Emeka Ihedioha (Imo) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun).
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