Meet The 3 Most Powerful Men In Aso Rock

Who is the most powerful man in Aso-Rock right now, apart from Pres. Bola Ahmed Tinubu? Who is the one man who has access to him 24/7? Who is the man who acts as the eyes and ears of President Bola Tinubu.

We guess you don’t have an idea. We guess you are having a 2nd doubt about who it could be. We can tell you.

He is the Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. Over the last 2 months a lot has happened around the President that has made Gbaja to become very powerful. And he himself has wielded so much power by virtue of his office.

Competing with Gbajabiamila is Mr. Dele Alake who was recently made a Minister.

He has also been seen around the President since May 29 when Pres. Tinubu was sworn-in. He is equally powerful, just as Seyi Tinubu is. Seyi is one of the Presidents son whose visibility has loomed large since the campaign period up till now.

Seyi is very close to his dad and he campaigned vigorously for him during the electioneering period.

With perhaps the exception of Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the President’s wife, Seyi is probably the closest person to his dad.

Seyi enjoys a typical son-father relationship with his dad to the envy of many. This gives him unhindered access to the President.

So, Gbaja, Alake & Seyi wield enormous influence and power in Aso-Rock.

They decide what goes on in the corridors of power. And they all have direct access to Baba, as Tinubu is fondly called.

They all played key roles during the recently held Minsterial exercise as some of the nominees were linked to one or two of them.

But central to the list is Hon. Gbajabiamila. That is why many topshots in APC who were hopeful weeks back that they would be made ministers have linked their failure to emerge to him. Over the last few weeks, the social media has been agog with unconfirmed and unsubstantiated stories of how they lost out because of Gbaja. There have also been stories of how some of these President’s men have been at loggerheads.

Before he was made Chief of Staff all eyes had been on Femi Gbajabiamila who was the then Speaker of the House of Reps.

There had been so much talk on what role Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (CFR) the Speaker of the House of Representatives will play in President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s government.

This is because Gbaja had been so visible. Since Tinubu won, he had been with him everywhere. So, there was a lot of talk that Gbaja might emerge Asiwaju’s Chief of Staff. He was with him in France and followed him to the Jumat service held at the National Mosque along with Pres. Buhari.

He is an experienced hand in politics. He assumed office as Speaker on 12th June 2019. His deputy is Ahmed Idris Wase. He was preceded by Yakubu Dogara.

Before this, he was House Leader of the House of Reps from 9th June 2015 to 9th June 2019.

He was also Minority Leader of the House of Reps from 5th June, 2007 to 6th June 2015.

He has been a member of the House of Reps since 3rd June, 2003.

At 61 he has done well for himself. He started as a Member of the Alliance for Democracy before 2006 then moved on to Action Congress of Nigeria (2006-2013) and then APC from 2013 to date.

He is an old boy of Igbobi College, KingWilliams College, UNILAG where he studied Law.

Femi Hakeem Gbajabiamila was born on 25 June 1962 to Lateef Gbajabiamila and Olufunke Gbajabiamila in Lagos, Nigeria. He attended Mainland Preparatory School for elementary education and Igbobi College in 1973, where he completed his secondary education. Subsequently, he enrolled at King William’s College on the Isle of Man, United Kingdom for his A-Level. He was admitted into the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He graduated with a Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) with honors in 1983 and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1984.

He first worked for the law firm, Bentley Edu & Co., in Lagos, before establishing 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.

Gbajabiamila was first elected to the House of representatives in 2003, he represents the Surulere I Constituency of Lagos State.

Gbajabiamila has criticized members of the National Assembly 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, sometimes vote for candidates based on their party alignment. He criticized floppers with this in mind, saying the effect “cannot be anything but negative.”

Gbajabiamila was the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives in the 7th National Assembly. He was head of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating claims by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) about the 140.9bn naira (about $1Bn) debt owed by ‘Zenon Petroleum & Gas Limited’ and ‘Forte Oil Plc’.

In October 2022, a Nigerian national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) was conferred on him by President Muhammadu Buhari.