A member of the House of Representatives, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has explained the need for top contender for the post of the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, to step down for her.
She said Gbajabiamila needed to step down to enable “Nigeria to move forward”.
Onyejeocha gave the explanation on Tuesday when she was addressing journalists.
According to her, Gbajabiamila needed to forgo his ambition in the interest of the country.
Onyejeocha is from Abia State and a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, like Gbajabiamila.
Gbajabiamila has been approved as the candidate for the post of the Speaker by the APC.
To enable her to contest for the post of Speaker, she urged her party, APC, to zone the position to the South East.
“I respect my party chairman and what the party has said it intends to do but I am appealing to them, it is not yet late to withdraw their decision and include a woman from the two geo-political zones left out in 2015,” she said.
“I know that the leader of the house, Femi Gbajabiamila, is a good gentleman and good leader but there is a time when any man who is a leader needs to make needed sacrifice and that time is now for the leader of my party in the house of representatives.
“This opportunity comes only once when a leader will look at himself and say, ‘it’s not about me, it’s about Nigeria.’ I also believe that Nigeria needs healing and somebody has to pay the sacrifice for us to move to the next level, even if it means deciding that speakership should go to another zone.”
She added: “As a woman who has distinguished herself and contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria, the APC should use the opportunity of my expression of interest in the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives to fulfill its promise to Nigerians, that it would increase women participation in the governance of the country.”
