The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has denied taking a swipe at Southern Governors, over their stand on restructuring and other issues raised at their meeting in Asaba, Delta State. He said he was shocked at how the media have reported to the contrary, his statement at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila was on Thursday after the Eid Al Fitr prayers in Abuja, which was a day after the meeting of Southern Governors in Asaba, when asked about the outcome and demand listed by the Governors, faulted the Southern Governors Forum for calling for the restructuring of the country, saying it is wrong for elected officials to lead such agitation.
The Speaker was quoted to have said that the present situation does not warrant name-calling, but rather, the coming together of all stakeholders to find solutions to it, admitting that everyone is complicit.
Femi Gbajabiamila, said those championing the call for succession might be misguided and do not mean well for the country.
On the call for restructuring, he said there might be genuine agitations but explicitly stated that elected leaders and state governors should particularly not champion the movement for restructuring without first replicating the idea at the state level.
He called for a national spirit of oneness, saying “if truth be told, we all have equal shares in the blame for what’s happening today. “Whatever challenges we have, we must all come together to make sure that we resolve these issues we’re facing.
“We must imbibe that spirit of oneness, togetherness, unity and love that would take us through this.” The speaker said the Eid celebration should be a period of sacrifice, love, and worship amid the spate of insecurity in the country,
The Speaker after coming under huge criticism from Nigerians for not backing the calls by the Southern Governors, took to his official Twitter handle on Friday 14th May 2021, to repost a series of videos from the supposed interview he granted to prove that he was misquoted by the media.
Alongside the videos was this caption which was a summary of what he said, which reads:
“My Ramadan message after Eid al Fitr prayers. A clear message on the need to abstain from blame game while we all come together to solve whatever challenges we have as a nation.
No swipe at any position taken by any Northern or Southern Governor or race but a message of unity, peace and love to one another.
I have always been an advocate for Restructuring/devolution of powers/Federalism and the Unity of Nigeria and always believed both can be achieved at same time.
I am shocked at the media reports to the contrary,” he added.