Femi Gbajabiamila

Olufemi "Femi" Hakeem Gbajabiamila was born on 25 June 1962 to Mr. Lateef Gbajabiamila and Mrs. Olufunke Gbajabiamila in Lagos, Nigeria. He attended Mainland Preparatory School for elementary education and Igbobi College in 1973 for secondary education. Subsequently he enrolled at King William's College on the Isle of Man, United Kingdom for his A-Level.[2] He was accepted into the University of Lagos, Nigeria.[3] He graduated from Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) with honors in 1983 and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1984.[1]

He first worked for the law firm, Bentley Edu & Co., in Lagos, and then established his own law firm, Femi Gbaja & Co. He then earned his Juris Doctor from Atlanta's John Marshall Law School in Georgia, USA, passed the Georgian bar exam in 2001, and set up a law firm in Atlanta. While in the USA, he actively participated in the election of Bill Campbell who later went on to become Mayor of Atlanta.[1]

Gbaja Biamila was elected to the House in 2003, and re-elected in 2007. He represents the Surulere I constituency of Lagos State (see Nigerian National Assembly delegation from Lagos) in the House of Representatives.[3] He is the Speaker of the House of Representation.

Gbaja Biamila has criticized members of Congress for switching parties. He suggested that many voters don't have access to the information to make choices based on every individual stance, and therefore are sometimes only voting for candidates based on their party alignment. He criticized floppers with this in mind, saying the effect "cannot be anything but negative."[4]

Gbajabiamila was the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives in the 7th National Assembly.[5] He was head of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating claims by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) that 140.9 Billion Naira (about $1Bn), which was owed by 'Zenon Petroleum & Gas Limited' and 'Forte Oil Plc', has been paid. The call for investigation of the reported payment was made by another lawmaker, Bimbo Daramola who moved the motion that the House set up a panel to verify the claims by AMCON that the Femi Otedola-owned two companies have paid back the money which the government of Nigeria paid for petroleum products reportedly not delivered as agreed upon by the dictates of the government's fuel subsidy scheme.

Bimbo Daramola had suspected that the payment, if truly made, was "shrouded in secrecy."[6]

Gbajabiamila caused outrage and suspicion he was living beyond his legal means when he gifted his wife a Mercedes G-Wagon, which costs in the region of $300,000, for her 50th birthday; this excluded the cost of the 1-day lavish party itself. All these is despite the fact his only known source of income is from a political position with earnings of less than $25,000 a year.[7][8]

He was elected speaker in the 9th National Assemly, House of Representative, with 283 vote, while his opponent Mohammed Umar Bago, came Second with 78 votes.

• Ibiam, Agha (2004-04-24). "A Lawmaker's Obsession With Education". Thisday. Leaders & Company. Archived from the original on 2005-08-25. Retrieved 2007-10-23.