My re-election a hard-won battle against many forces – Gbajabiamila

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that his re-election on February 25 was a hard-won battle against many forces.

He lamented that many experienced lawmakers lost the elections due to religious and ethnic politics rather than lack of performance.

Addressing newsmen in his office in Abuja, Gbajabiamila said the performance of the members was sacrificed on the altar of ethnicity, religion and other factors which were used to vote them out.

He said, “It was a hard-won battle, not just for me, but for many of our colleagues on the floor there. Many were unlucky. Some were lucky.

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“I use the word ‘lucky’ deliberately because these elections were not as they should be, not so much about the performance of members; whether on the floor or in their constituencies.

“It was about a lot of other things. It was about religion, it was about ethnicity. It was about so many other things which I hope that as we develop as a nation, elections would be based solely, or at least mostly, one’s performance on the floor and in the constituency.

He said the house would continue to perfect the Electoral Act which he noted would continue to improve the electoral process and strengthen democracy in the country.