Many supporters of former House Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, for the speakership of the 8th House of Representatives trooped to the office of the eventual winner, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, on Thursday.
The members said they were at the new speaker’s office on a courtesy visit to register their support for his leadership.
Kano and Jigawa State caucuses were known supporters of Gbajabiamila ahead of the June 9 poll, which he lost to Dogara.
For instance, all but two Kano State’s 24 members were with Gbajabiamila.
In the case of Jigawa State, all the 11 members backed Gbajabiamila.
However, on Thursday, one of the most vocal supporters of Gbajabiamila from the North-West, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, led the Kano and Jigawa caucuses on a solidarity visit to Dogara.
Ado-Doguwa told Dogara that the purpose of the visit was to congratulate him on his victory and to support his leadership.
He also explained that they earlier lined up behind Gbajabiamila because it was the desire of the All Progressives Congress to have him as the speaker.
Ado-Doguwa advised the speaker to put the electioneering behind him and look forward to building a united House.
He spoke more, “While we have no regrets whatsoever, with regards to the position we took during the contest, we must also accept the outcome of the process as democracy in action.
“However, we did what we did according to our party’s directives. And we wish to declare our total support for your regime and work with you and also advise you whenever we see that you are going wrong.”
Members from Adamawa, Gombe and Katsina states also visited the new speaker.
Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, a Dogara supporter, led the Adamawa caucus, while those from Katsina were led by Mr. Sani Zango-Daura.
Binta Bello-Maigeri led the members from Gombe State, while Mr. Jerry Alagboso led those from Imo state.
Alagboso had informed Dogara that prior to his election, the members from Imo State campaigned for him.