At the event last Wednesday where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) distributed Certificates of Return to members-elect of the House of Representatives in the February 25 elections, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, provided an explanation for his absence.

While some media reports indicated that the Speaker would serve as Bola Ahmed Tinubu's chief of staff, Gbajabiamila told State House reporters on Monday that he had been in Lagos campaigning for the APC when the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) met with the party's incoming lawmakers.

He said “I don’t know anything about that chief of staff thing. All I heard was that I didn’t come here last week to pick up my certificate of return and for that reason, somebody conjectured that I must be in line for the office because I didn’t care about my mandate.

“I was in Lagos and I could not leave Lagos because I was campaigning for my party. That’s number one. Again, it will interest you to know that I was not here four years ago to pick up my certificate of return from INEC because I couldn’t make it. I don’t think it is anything significant. I’ll pick up my certificate today or tomorrow”.