Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in finding a running mate.
At an event in Abuja on Sunday to mark Gbajabiamila’s 60th birthday, Gbajabiamila told Tinubu that he would find him a running mate Tinubu could enjoy working with.
“You (Tinubu) said in your address that many years ago you consulted with a younger brother on the issue of WAEC and that consultation bore fruits.
“I give you my own parting shot. It is that time again to consult with your younger brother. I will give you a running mate that you will enjoy working with. But this time the consultation I promise you will not be for free,” he said.
Tinubu had paid glowing tribute to Gbajabiamila, describing him as a worthy individual.
Tinubu said he discovered Gbajabiamila as a potential politician even though the Speaker was reluctant at first.
“As a Minority Leader, he consults wide and he’s always there to see the thinking of opposition that we must bring a revolution to the House to be able to beat the PDP.
“And then, he will brainstorm for any length of time about political strategy.
“When he was challenged for the position of the speaker, I think after our merger he worked for me tirelessly; Femi is a workaholic. The problem of failure stared him at the face. He lost the election to become the Speaker.
“I was close to tears. Stamping my foot to the ground, I said we will win again. Femi keep up. Pick yourself up. I am very proud of you that you did, you didn’t give up. You did the opposition and the support job. You demonstrated what we learnt from textbooks and other authors.
“Femi with your determination, grit, you are a contributor to our democratic growth, thank you. You have character. You are a great mentor and you are doing a good job charting a path to success. You’ve done a good job and I say thank you, thank you.
“What you did during my primary is a story for another day. I’ve spent more time, too many times and people might be bored, they might be envious too, they might be jealous. I won landslide, I thank you.
“I could see his deputy (Wase) sitting down there too, you are a very good symbols of unity, dependability, and honesty, thank you. Thank you for both of you. You’ve not rocked the boat. I will need to learn from both of you, how you made the pair work because I’m still searching for my running mate,” Tinubu had said.
