Speaking on the reason why President and other stakeholders in the ruling party are hell bent of the choices of Lawan and Gbajabiamila, Wambai said the President and other party leaders showed interests in the duo because of their excellence on duty, loyalty and vast experience.
The party unanimously supported the two to move the country forward. He said: “We have not given Ahmed Lawan the position of Senate President because he is from Northeast or Gbajabiamila Speaker because he is from Southwest but based on the performance of the party, their contribution and loyalty.
“There was a time Mr. President sent budget to the National Assembly and that proposal was kept there for about seven months. This Gbabiamila and Lawan were the ones fighting and because of that, they received a lot of frustration, traumatization and intimidation from the present leadership of the National Assembly.
“So, do you think the party and Mr. President should not reward those people? No. We said that despite the fact that the Northwest has the President, the Southwest has the vice president, the Senate President is zoned to the Northeast, Mr. President felt we should reward Femi Gbajabiamila based on the compelling loyalty and his experience.
“Mr. President prefers these people because of their past experiences. We are not saying that there is nobody in the Northcentral that is qualified. No. But the issue is that there are certain considerations. We fought for the zone to get deputy speaker in the House of Representatives and also Senate Majority Leader in the Senate.”
On whether the ruling APC put religion balancing into consideration, bearing in mind that both candidates are Muslims, he said: “You do not understand the political dynamism of our country. Do you think if we concentrate on religion this country will move forward? We go for excellence sometime, we go for those people who can key into the project of change and deliver.
“We should no longer say discriminate against anybody who has something to offer. The moment a nation starts thinking about where someone comes from or the religion, he or she practices such a nation is doomed.”
He said: “I share the assertion that things should be given to any region based on their contribution and acceptance of mantra.
“But in politics, you may not get what you sometimes think is yours because of certain pecuniary reason and expediency. But as far as I am concerned, the consideration should be given based on merit. Having produced the Senate President for the past 12 years, the Northcentral should allow other zones to produce the Speaker since we are not the only zone.
“Recall that in 2015, the post of Speaker and Senate President were zoned to the Southwest and the Northeast respectively. Ahmad Lawan from the Northeast and Femi Gbajabiamila from the Southwest were favoured but there was internal coup which truncated the process.”