The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Gbajabiamila may have distanced himself from the unpopular position of the Senate President as the House of Representatives today clarified that the Speaker did not oppose the southern governors’ calls for restructuring and ban on open grazing.
The House, in a statement issued on Friday by its spokesperson, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, insisted that the online and traditional media’s publication that the speaker is opposed to the southern governors’ call for restructuring is false and misleading.
Kalu, therefore, cautioned the media to be mindful of peddling false news in the bid to misinform the general public, saying this is misleading and detrimental to the country’s democracy.
The statement reads in bits ; “The attention of the House has been drawn to several publications on online and traditional media claiming that the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, is opposed to the southern governors’ call for restructuring.”
The spokesperson, however, restated the accurate reproduction of the statements made by Gbajabiamila.
“This is not a time for name-calling or blaming one person or the other. If truth be told, we all have equal shares in the blame and whatever challenges we have, we all must come together. In the same way we all have equal shares, we must all come together to make sure that we resolve whatever issues there are.
“Like I said earlier, the greatest nations have gone through challenges worse than this and I believe that it is that spirit of oneness and that spirit of togetherness and unity and love that will take us through this. You know sometimes there are many things that people have said here and there and you never know where these things are coming from.
“Sometimes God even puts you through challenges so that you can come out of it stronger, bigger, better, bolder. That’s what I believe is gonna happen to Nigeria. We’re all put together in this one geographical space for a reason. It wasn’t by happenstance or coincidence or by chance.
“It was ordained by Almighty God and He doesn’t make mistakes, He doesn’t go wrong. What He decrees is what will be and I believe He put us all together. No matter your religion, no matter your ethnicity, talking about over 250 ethnic groups in one country, it is that diversity that God had foreseen that I believe we should tap into as Nigerians.
“I have belief in the Nigerian resilience and in the Nigerian spirit; and in the spirit of Ramadan, we must continue to pray,” the Speaker had said.
Kalu stressed that it was clear to objective reason that nothing in the above statement opposes the southern governors’ call for restructuring.
He noted that Indeed, from the beginning of the 9th Assembly, the House under the leadership of Gbajabiamila has reiterated its commitment to a thorough review of the 1999 Constitution as can be seen by the composition and activities of the Constitutional Review Committee of the House.
The House, therefore, urged Nigerians to disregard this news and continue to pray for a peaceful Nigeria.
