Results of election into the House of Representatives for Surulere I Federal Constituency in Lagos State has been declared.
Prof. Virgy Oneyene, the INEC Returning Officer for the House of Representatives election in the constituency, declared the results at INEC’s collation centre in Surulere at about 17:04 GMT on Sunday.
According to her, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila of the All Progressives Congress (APC ) has emerged winner of the election held on Saturday, having polled 19,717 votes.
Professor Oneyene also announced that Mr Bolaji Jeje of Peoples Democratic Party came second with 5,121 votes.
The returning officer declared that Mr Mathew Idowu of Social Democratic Party had 838 votes; Mrs Benedicta Uba of Zenith Labour Party, 660 votes; Mr Ademola Oshinaya of New Nigeria Peoples Party, 623 votes and Lumumba Savage of Party A, 337 votes.
“At the end of voting, Femi Gbajabiamila of APC has satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes and is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected, ” she said.
Acceptance Speech
Speaker Gbajabiamila said he remained grateful to the people of Surulere 1 for giving him the sixth term mandate, noting that he would not disappoint them.
He pledged to continue to work assiduously and bring more developmental projects to Surulere and beyond.
“I am immensely grateful to the people of Surulere for their overwhelming support. I do not take your support for granted.
“As your representative for the past 20 years, I have always protected your interest. I am proud of you as my constituents. I thank our teeming supporters, our Surulere APC leaders, party members, CDAs and residents for their massive support.
“This victory is not mine alone. It is a victory for democracy. Surulere has made history by this sixth mandate given to me, which would definitely spur me to do more for you,” Gbajabiamila said.
The Speaker was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 to represent Surulere 1 Federal Constituency. Since then, he has won elections in the subsequent five election cycles, including Saturday’s.
Gbajabiamila remains the only lawmaker from South West geopolitical zone to have been elected six times to represent his constituency.
During his 20-year journey in the House of Representatives so far, Gbajabiamila has served as Minority Whip, Minority Leader, Opposition Leader, and Majority Leader before getting elected as Speaker in 2019. He remains the only lawmaker in Africa to have done this.
VON