colleagues. In an interview with The Punch, the suspended member was
asked why he supported Dogara, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives in the first place, here is what he had to say:
What is the quality you saw in Dogara that made you to support his emergence as Speaker?
What
happened to me was an error of judgment. I had written and apologised
to my party for that. It is one of the (most) bitter and, at the same
time, one of the best experiences I’ve had in life. The human being is
the most interesting thing to study.
What happened was that we came out
of the 7th Assembly with bitter experiences and we were determined to
get the best person as the Speaker. We have a lot of new members in the
current House and those of us that returned are few – and even a fewer
number of us held sensitive positions in the 7th Assembly.
The best
qualities I think a Speaker should possess are capacity, being temperate
and cool-headed, and the ability to bring people together. Femi
(Gbajabiamila), my good friend, with whom I get along well – a brilliant
lawyer, intelligent and smart – understands the rules of the House.
You
cannot beat him when it comes to the House rules. But Femi is a bit
hyper. I have had that conversation with him to say, ‘Look Femi, you
will shout at your colleagues and there will be a shouting match while
sitting on that seat (of speaker). Dogara, on the other hand, was
Chairman of the House Services. I didn’t know him that much. But he came
across as quiet. You will hear people say, ‘Oh, he is a man of God.’ I
have come to realise that is a dummy he has been selling to the public.
You see him come to the chamber looking quiet.
He is a brilliant guy;
he looks calm and organised. (But) we were deceived by his looks and the
surface psychoanalysis of his personality. We felt we should give him
the chance (to become the speaker). It was a risk that I took.
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