By Omotara Emmanuel-Omotosho
Femi Gbajabiamila is no spendthrift. Hence he must have no problem reconciling any gross habit with his stature and net income. But as Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, he must understand that the legislature is becoming like an insect; its ethos, which is equivalent perhaps to a kind of cultural DNA, is held internally, but its repute is like the insect’s exoskeleton, carried on the outside not the inside.
At his reelection to the lower chamber, pundits ascribed to him the wisdom of the ancients, which holds among other things, that fishes shouldn’t float into houses and thickets are for birds to nest in. Hence his return to the chamber was viewed in quarters apologetic to him, as right step in the right direction. Among other things, Gbajabiamila was expected to break the chamber out of any gross habit and stereotype and redesign it as a humane institution.
Of course, he seemed every bit set for the task ahead. At his inauguration, cerebral and eloquent, were the most common descriptions of Gbajabiamila before he became Speaker of the House of Representatives. His ascent to the fourth most powerful political position in Nigeria has crossed him over to a broader fandom that is awed by his appeal, which has become further smoothed and tailored by power. And for a man with a cosmopolitan outlook and the money habit, he is bound to acquire more fans with his new acquisitions.
Speaker Gbajabiamila recently went on a car-buying spree at the upscale Skymit Motors. Sources said some of the cars he bought include bulletproof S-Class Mercedes Benz, and Toyota Landcruiser. He reportedly shelled out over three hundred million naira for what observers have described as the height of sheer extravagance.
However, it has been revealed that these cars are not meant for principal officers of the House of Representatives thereby raising eyebrows and posers as to what he intends to do with them. But many are not totally surprised. Right from his days as a United States-based lawyer and his early days in Nigerian politics, Gbajabiamila has never shied from letting those around know that he is rock-solid financially and he knows how to deploy it in his pursuit of ease and luxury.
Sometime last year, when his wife, Salamatu, turned 50, the fifth term lawmaker presented her a glittering white G-Wagon. In a viral video of the private presentation, Gbajabiamila was seen embracing his wife, who gushed and blushed as they inspected the vehicle, hand in hand, like high school lovers taking their first walk in a garden. Close friends and family cheered on as Assurance, the popular hit song by wave-maker, Davido, blared in the background. Mrs Gbajabiamala’s G-Wagon is valued at N100m. Before then, Davido had thrown social media into a frenzy when he presented a N45million Porsche automobile to his girlfriend Chioma for her 23rd birthday. He had customised the number plate ‘Assurance’, the title of his monster hit single which he released before the celebrant’s day.
The fear for close observers is that a similar habit ended the reign of Nigeria’s first female speaker, Patricia Olubunmi Etteh. In September 2007, barely three months into her Speakership reign, Etteh was accused of authorising the spending of N628million on the renovations of her official residence and that of her deputy and the purchase of 12 official cars meant for the House of Representatives. She was forced to resign in the heat of the scandal. Though he was in his second term in the House at the time, Gbajabiamila, obviously, has forgotten this part of history.
