President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday began to unwrap the the package and make-up of his administration with the appointment of the outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Olufemi Hakeem Gbajabiamila as his Chief of Staff.

Hon. Gbajabiamila’s name had featured as a possible choice of the President immediately President Tinubu won the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He was always with the President throughout the campaigns and had in recent times been seen attending several meetings with the President.

He confirmed his appointment on his verified Twitter handle on Thursday morning and was shortly after introduced to the service chiefs at a meeting in the Presidential Villa. He recently won his re-election bid to the House of Representatives but was yet to collect his certificate of return.

Born June 25, 1962 to Lateef Gbajabiamila and Olufunke Gbajabiamila in Lagos, Nigeria, Rt. Honourable Gbajabiamila attended Mainland Preparatory School for elementary education and Igbobi College in 1973, where he completed his secondary education. He subsequently enrolled at King William’s College on the Isle of Man, United Kingdom for his A-Level.

He was accepted into the University of Lagos, Nigeria to study Law and he graduated with a Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) with honors in 1983 . He was called to the Nigerian bar in 1984. He 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.

Hon. Gbajabiamila was first elected to the House of representatives in 2003, representing Surulere I constituency of Lagos State. He was the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives in the 7th National Assembly and 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’.

Rt. Hon Gbajabiamila who has built extensive contacts with members of the National Assembly is expected to be a bridge-builder between the Executive and the Parliament in the course of running a smooth government.