There had been reports that the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase and Jaji, were conspicuously absent despite being invited for the meeting.
One of the aspirants for the Speaker for the House of Representatives, Aminu Sani Jaji, has said that he did not shun the meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday when he (Tinubu) met with the All Progressives Congress lawmakers.
There had been reports that the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase and Jaji, were conspicuously absent despite being invited for the meeting.
It was said that the duo’s absence was connected to their refusal to accept Hon Tajudeen Abass, the anointed candidate of the APC for the office of the Speaker.
Meanwhile, in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday, the Jaji Support Group confirmed that the lawmaker was in the meeting with Tinubu and would never shun the president’s call.
“Jaji and the President have a long-standing political relationship that transcends the House of Representatives politics. On Wednesday night, Aminu Sani Jaji met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with other speakership aspirants. The meeting was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to discuss the ongoing leadership tussle at the National Assembly.
“According to reports, the President urged lawmakers to work with the zoning by the party chosen for leadership posts in the Senate and House of Representatives while unequivocally stating no support for any candidate,” the release said.
The convener of the Jaji group, Sanni Mustapha, noted that the lawmaker was instrumental to the president's electoral success and would not do anything that would undermine his leadership.
"Our supporters should kindly disregard such insinuation that he deliberately shunned the meeting. Hon. Jaji and Asiwaju have been together for long,” Mustapha added.
"As Director of Contact and Mobilisation for the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the North West, our leader worked tirelessly to ensure the party was victorious at the polls.
"Those behind the story are only trying to blackmail him out of the race which he is poised to win as the picture of him with other aspirants with the President is already in the public domain."