5 things you need to know about new House of Representatives speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila

Hon Femi Gbajabiamila has emerged Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives after defeating Umar Bago with a margin of 205 votes.

Here are five facts you need to know about the new Speaker:

* He has been elected to the House of Representatives since 2003 to represent Surulere I Constituency of Lagos State. He served as minority leader of the House of Representatives in the sixth and seventh Assembly. He was the majority leader in the eighth Assembly.

* He was educated in Nigeria, US and the UK. He attended the popular Igbobi College in Yaba, Lagos and proceeded to King William’s College, on the Isle of Man, United Kingdom. He also attended John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois, United States and the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in Lagos obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in law.

* Gbajabiamila stood against former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term bid. As an opposition politician, he moved a motion invoking the Doctrine of Necessity, which allowed ex- President Goodluck Jonathan to become Acting President in 2009. He is the first legislator to reject a national honours award.

* He practised law in Georgia, United States of America before returning to Nigeria in 2002.

* Among the many bills that were sponsored by Gbajabiamila are ‘Nigerian Communications Commission Act (Amendment) Bill, 2013 to help track the usage of communication terminals by terrorists; Central Bank of Nigeria (Amendment) Bill, 2012 to help strengthen the nation’s monetary policy; Building and Public Infrastructures Protection Bill, 2011 with the objective to enable maintenance of public buildings and infrastructure and many more.