The life history of OLADIMEJI SABUR BANKOLE

Speaker of the House of
Representatives of Nigeria
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 1, 2007
Deputy Usman Bayero
Nafada
Preceded by Patricia Etteh
Born
November 14, 1969
Abeokuta, Ogun
State
Nationality Nigerian
Political party People's
Democratic Party
(PDP)
Spouse(s) Olaitan Bankole
Profession Businessman and
economist
Religion Islam.
Oladimeji Sabur Bankole
(born November 14, 1969) is a
Nigerian politician and Speaker
of the House of Representatives.
The son of Abeokuta chief Alani
Rufus Bankole, he was a
businessman before being
elected to the House. Elected at
age 37, Bankole is the
youngest Speaker in the history
of the House.[3]
Early life, education, and sports
A Muslim[4] Egba,[5] Bankole was
born in Abeokuta in what is now
Ogun State on November 14,
1969. His parents are Alani
Bankole, a businessman, former
National Vice Chairman of the All
Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)[5],
Seriki Jagunmolu of Egbaland
and his wife Atinuke Bankole,
Ekerin Iyalode of Egbaland.[4]
Newspaper Thisday identifies
Bankole's education as such:
Baptist Boys High School,
Abeokuta starting 1979; Albany
College, London, England starting
1985; University of Reading,
Reading, England starting 1989;
University of Oxford's Officer
Training College, Oxford, England
in 1991; and Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, US in
2005.[4].
All Africa.com reports that he
holds a professional certificate in
Public Finance from Harvard
University, USA. [6].
Bankole states he never went to
Sandhurst military academy but
only took courses for military
officers at Oxford University
where he was in the Artillery
Corps.[7].
Bankole is a polo player, and is a
member of the Lagos Polo Club,
where his position is defense.[4]
He also enjoys football.[8]
Business career
Bankole was the Director of
Freight Agencies Nigeria Limited
from 1995 until 1998, Executive
Director of Operations of West
African Aluminium Products
Limited from 1998 until 2003,
and Director of ASAP Limited
from 2000 until 2003.[4] He is
also an economist.[9]
Political career
In 2003, Bankole was elected to
the House of Representatives on
the People's Democratic Party
(PDP) ticket to represent the
Abeokuta South Federal
Constituency of Ogun State. He
was Deputy Chairman of the
House Committee on Finance
while Aminu Bello Masari was
Speaker,[10] (Farouk Lawan was
Chairman of the committee)[9]
and was also previously
Chairman of the House
Committee on Land Transport.
[10] Other committees he has sat
on are the panels on Defence,
Internal Affairs and Banking, and
Currency.[8]
Bankole was re-elected in April
2007.[4] He considers his
legislative interests to be those
related to defence and finance.
[11]
House of Representatives
Speakership
In September 2007, a committee
questioned Speaker Patricia Etteh
about her spending of ₦628
million ($4.8m) on home
renovation and automobiles. She
denied wrongdoing, but many
representatives were unhappy
with her attempts to defend
herself, blows were traded on
the floor of the House, and Etteh
had to be escorted from the
chamber.[12] Former President
Olusegun Obasanjo and many
top PDP members continued to
back her,[13] but a large
segment of the party, led by
Lawan and including Bankole,
called for her resignation.[10] It
was reported that Bankole,
among multiple other
contenders, hoped to succeed
her as early as October 5, 2007.
[14]
After Etteh's resignation from the
post on October 30 (along with
her deputy, who was also caught
up in the scandal),[15] Integrity
Group (anti-Etteh) member
Terngu Tsegba became interim
speaker.[8] Samson Osagie of
Edo State nominated Bankole for
the post of Speaker, and Lynda
Ikpeazu of Anambra State
seconded the proposal. On
November 1, he was elected to
succeed Etteh.[10] His challenger
was Osun State Representative
George Jolaoye, whom he beat by
304 votes to 20 (and 4
abstentions). Etteh was among
those who voted against
Bankole.[2] The new deputy
speaker is Usman Bayero Nafada.
[10]
On his election, Bankole said "I
am taking over the mantle of
leadership at a very difficult time.
But these are hard times, we
need to build confidence again
and assure the populace that we
are still their representatives. I
want an independent house that
Nigerians will be proud of, this is
my first task."[8]
One week after his election,
political opponents claimed that
Bankole had not completed his
National Youth Service Corps
(N.Y.S.C) service, which is
mandatory for all Nigerian
university graduates under thirty
years of age when they graduate,
and called for his resignation
over the issue.[16] Bankole
provided his N.Y.S.C discharge
certificate, ending the rumor.[17]
Emma Skipper Foundation
Bankole established a charity, the
Emma Skipper Foundation.
Among the tasks the
organization has undertaken are
giving microcredit loans and
awarding scholarships.[4]
2009 Excessive Travel Expenses
Scandal
In 2009, he was accused of
spending over N52b as Travel
Expenses. An act many members
of the House of Representative
described as 'Selfish and
Fraudulent', considering the
current level of poverty among
greater percentage of Nigerians.
[18]