The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said some members of the DPR 9 lost elections in their constituencies because voters focused more on religion and ethnicity than the performance of the members of parliament.
Mr. Gbajabiamila stated this on Tuesday while speaking to members of the House of Representatives Press Corps at the National Assembly Complex.
He said voters do not consider the performance of MPs on the floor of the House or in their constituencies.
The speaker, who won re-election in Surulere 1 federal constituency in Lagos State on February 25, said he was just lucky to win the election because “this election was not what we expected.”
He added, “This is a battle won not only for me, but for many colleagues on the floor (of the House) there are … all 360. Many are unlucky. Some are lucky. I use the word ‘lucky’ deliberately because this election is not like that is expected; it is not so much about the performance of members whether on the floor or in the constituents.
“It’s about many other things. It’s about religion. It’s about ethnicity. It’s about many other things that I hope that if we develop as a nation, one election will be based only, or at least generally, on the performance on the floor and in the constituency,” he said .
Mr. Gbajabiamila also blamed the poor parliamentarians for being indirect in the Electoral Act.
The speaker stated that direct primaries will complete the merit-based selection process.
He said the National Assembly should improve the Electoral Act to improve the electoral process.
“That’s why I fought hard to make sure the Electoral Act uses direct mode for primaries due to elections.”
“Although in the general election members lost, many members actually lost in the election in the primary that was not accepted by the constituents. The test is what one or two leaders in the constituency determined, whether they returned or not. So, we lost a lot of legislators even at the primary level, and it does not help our democracy.
“So, hopefully, moving forward, we will perfect the document, the Election Law, which many people have celebrated but it is still not perfect. Hopefully, we can perfect it,” he said.
PREMIUM TIMES has reported about it 130 DPR members did not get their party tickets.
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