The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, has reached out to aggrieved members of the chamber known as G-70 who have vowed to challenge his election as presiding officer in court.
The aggrieved lawmakers had accused Gbajabiamila of buying the votes with which he emerged as the Speaker on June 11, 2019, and threatened to seek the nullification of the election in court.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Sunday, the House Ad Hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs said negotiations were ongoing with members of the G-70.
A member of the committee, Mr Abubakar Ahmad, said, “Normally after an election; if there was a contest, the beauty of democracy is that the majority will have their way and the minority will have their say.
“It is the duty of those who emerged victorious to extend the Olive’s branch to the people that have been defeated so that we will portray a scenario of ‘no victor, no vanquished.’ I think the 9th Assembly is doing that.
“To buttress it more – and you can quote me. Some people expressed some views in the media on the platform of G-70. I am in the media committee. We are talking to the leaders of the said G-70.
“Even yesterday (Saturday), we held a meeting with them and I think we are almost convincing them to sheathe their sword. The 9th Assembly leadership is leaving no stone unturned regarding any uprising.”
Speaking with our correspondent earlier last week, the spokesman for the G-70, Mr Mark Gbillah, said the group was in talks with senior lawyers and the international community on how to reverse the election.
When asked for an update on the legal action being planned by G-70, the lawmaker had said, “Those are things that we will not obviously divulge at the moment. These are strategic decisions.
“The only important thing you can note now is that we are still following up on legal advice from our legal advisers and we have also reached out to the international community who even invited us for talks.”