Gbajabiamila speaks on ‘appointment’ as chief of staff to Tinubu

Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila on Thursday spoke on his rumoured appointment as chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu.

“Be patient. The system works in its own way – allow the system to work,” Gbajabiamila told a journalist that quizzed him at the State House in Abuja.

A report by Leadership Newspaper claimed that Tinubu appointed Gbajabiamila as chief of staff. There was no official confirmation to the report.

Gbajabiamila was reelected as an House of Representatives member for Surulere Constituency in Lagos State during the February National Assembly elections.

Since the election which took place on the same day as presidential election won by Tinubu, Gbajabiamila has been tagged the president’s ‘right hand man’ due to his visibility in majority of the president’s engagements.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan said Tinubu would have made a wise decision if Gbajabiamila is appointed as his chief of staff.

“I am waiting for the announcement. You are speculating,” Lawan said. “I’m not. The speaker of the house of representatives has been rumoured to be the chief of staff designate. First of all, I pray that it comes to pass. If that happens, Mr president would have made a wise decision.

“At this moment, you need a chief of staff with very versed experience in the area of legislation, in the area of cooperating with the executive which the speaker spearheaded from the house.”

The Speaker’s body language of being uninterested in retaining his position when the 10 National Assembly resumes in June makes the rumours of his appointment as chief of staff to Tinubu thick. And thicker on Thursday.

The report by Leadership Newspaper said the president introduced Gbajabiamila as his chief of staff during a meeting with service chiefs at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.

The report has been deleted at the time of filing this report.

President Tinubu’s meeting with the service chiefs, our correspondent gathered, lasted for about two hours where he gave marching orders on curbing insecurity in Nigeria.

Tinubu, who decried the declining security in the country, said he will not accept a situation in which the nation’s fortunes continues to dwindle, as his administration is determined to build on whatever gains that have so far been made.

The National Security Adviser (NSA) Maj Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd) after the meeting said Tinubu told the security chiefs that the new administration is determined to turn the tide of insecurity besetting the country.