The Deputy Speaker of the House, Ahmed Wase, who presided over the day’s plenary, hailed Nigerians in his remarks at the close of the session.
Wase said, “Respected colleagues, I want to appreciate every Nigerian who is truly for democracy and who is supporting democracy, for their calmness, show of love and to congratulate our brother, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for winning the presidential election.”
The lawmakers applauded Wase with a round of applause, with leader of the South-West Caucus, Olufemi Fayeye, signalling to members of the House to give Tinubu a standing ovation.
The Deputy Speaker, in reaction to some members of the House noted that the lawmakers were the true representatives of Nigerians.
According to Wase, the outing of the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, shows “the extent of the credibility of the election, and we thank INEC for the very wonderful, good job that they have done.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission had in the early hours of Wednesday declared Tinubu as the President-elect.
Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State and former Senator, was declared winner after polling 8,794,726 votes in the 2023 presidential election held last Saturday.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said Tinubu won the election ahead of other contenders – the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar; the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi; and the New Nigeria Peoples Party candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The three leading presidential candidates won in 12 states each while Kwankwaso claimed only Kano State.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, has congratulated the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on his victory at the presidential poll.
Gbajabiamila, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, said Tinubu’s victory is a testament to his years of hard work, building bridges across the country, tenacity and belief in Nigeria’s unity.
Describing Tinubu’s victory as a victory for democracy, Gbajabiamila noted that the President-elect fought a good fight and gave a good account of himself as always.
He added that as a courageous, dogged and determined democrat, Tinubu weathered the storm and emerged victorious against all odds.
The Speaker said, “The victory of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a victory for democracy. I have said time and again that Tinubu is the best for Nigeria at this time, and God has answered our prayers.
“Since the beginning of the journey, we were convinced that Nigerians would vote for him because he did it before and he will do it for the country. Today, Lagos is what it is courtesy of Tinubu’s vision. With Asiwaju’s victory, Nigeria will witness unprecedented development.
“But this victory did not come on a platter of gold(sic). It was a well-fought and deserved one. Like I said before, many obstacles had been deliberately placed in his way. Trust Asiwaju; he confronted them head-on and emerged victorious.”
Gbajabiamila said he believed Tinubu would deliver on the mandate given to him by Nigerians, going by his track record, while calling on the candidates of the opposition parties to put Nigeria first and concede defeat.
“Whatever faith we are, we all believe and profess that all power belongs to God and He gives to whoever he pleases. This spiritual belief of all faiths has been greatly manifested in Asiwaju’s victory against all odds, I therefore call on all Nigerians, no matter your political bent, to see God’s hand in this,” he said.
Wase congratulates Tinubu
Deputy Speaker of the House, Ahmed Wase, also congratulated Tinubu on his victory in the last presidential election.
According to a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Umar Puma, titled ‘Wase congratulates Tinubu,’ the Deputy Speaker said the APC candidate victory at the polls with votes from across the length and breadth of the country is a testament to the acceptance of his ideologies of ‘Renewed Hope’ as the bedrock for national rebirth.
Wase said, “I wish to on behalf of my family and constituents, heartily congratulate you and your Vice-President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima on this well deserved victory. To me, it is victory for every well meaning Nigerian and it is the harbinger of great things to happen in our country.”
Wase, who described Tinubu as a great patriot and consummate democrat, expressed confidence in his ability to lead Nigeria to greater heights.
“I am convinced that you possess the courage and requisite leadership and managerial skills to turn around the fortunes of our great country.
“As a great patriot and consummate democrat, you have built bridges of friendship and comradeship across the nation that traversed ethnic religious and political lines. This could be gleaned from your wide acceptability by Nigerians,” he partly said.
Adeogun, Betara hail Tinubu’s victory
The lawmaker representing Akoko South-East and South-West Federal Constituency in Ondo State, Adejoro Adeogun, has also hailed Tinubu.
Adeogun said, “People of outstanding accomplishments, I have long come to realise, rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. For our leader and president-elect today, it is a fruit of over three decades of sacrifices and hard work. It is my prayer that God will help you to turn our country’s fortune for good. Congratulations to the Asiwaju of Nigeria.”
In a related development, Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Aliyu Betara, won his reelection for the seat of Biu/Bayo/Kwaya Kusar/Shani Federal Constituency in Borno State.
Betara, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, polled 71,427 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mohammed Biu, of the People Democratic Party who polled 15, 514 votes to emerge second.
In his reaction to the electoral victory, Betara expressed gratitude to his constituents for their unwavering support and encouragement through the years, adding that they had demonstrated once their commitment to the social contract that had existed between them for over a decade.
The lawmaker said, “I want to particularly express my heartfelt gratitude to almighty Allah for making this day possible. This is a journey that commenced some months ago when they pulled together their hard-earned money to get the nomination forms for me and today they have marched that commitment with further action by voting overwhelmingly for me to emerge once again.
“As you can see, there’s no excuse or reason to let my people down when I return back to Abuja, because today they kept their promise of returning me and it’s my turn to fulfil my own end of the social contract we have entered into.
“I will continue to do my best to represent their interest and put them first in my legislative decisions and activities in the next four years inshallah.
“I also want to thank the leadership of our great party the APC for the continuous support and encouragement over the years. I pray for total victory both in the presidential and governorship elections so that together we can provide the quality leadership that Nigerians deserve,” he said.
The current election victory will mark the re-election of Hon. Betara to the House for a record fifth term in the history of the constituency.
