Majority leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has triggered a barrage of attacks to himself after he surprised his wife, Yemisi,
Majority leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has triggered a barrage of attacks to himself after he surprised his wife, Yemisi, with a Mercedes G-Wagon, selling for between N75m and N100m in Nigeria as her 50th birthday gift. Like Davido, who bought his girlfriend a Porsche worth N22m, with a plate number ‘ASSURANCE’, 56 year-old Gbajabiamila also named the gift ‘ASSURANCE’. A Mercedes Benz G-Wagon has a factory price of about $120,000, depending on its trim type. But in Nigeria, it goes for between N70m and N360m.
The lawmaker is now being openly attacked for not only making the gesture public but also for the high cost of the gift especially in a country where people find it difficult to eat and pay bills. His act was considered by many as insensitive, selfish and ostentatious. Others have however questioned the source of the money seeing that he is a public official who has no other source of income besides his earnings as a legislature. Some have also wondered if he ‘schemed’ the system in order to afford such luxury.
Gbajabiamila represents Surulere, Lagos, in the House of Representatives and is a member of the All Progressives Congress. He was first elected in 2003, he got re-elected in 2007, 2011, 2015 and is now working at getting a fifth term.
