A frontline aspirant for the position of the Speaker of the incoming 10th House of Representatives, Rep. Abbas Tajudeen, has said that his pedigree and valuable contributions to lawmaking in the past 12 years are some of the factors that make him eminently qualified to occupy the Number 4 position.
Tajudeen, who represents Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, has been in the National Assembly since 2011 and has the highest number of bills in both the 8th and the current 9th Assembly.
He has sponsored 74 bills in the 9th House, the highest by any individual lawmaker, out of which 21 were signed into law by the president.
The lawmaker, who was reported to have been endorsed by the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said during a Channels TV programme, Sunday Politics, monitored in Abuja that he is the lawmaker that the House needs as Speaker.
The speakership aspirant noted that the Northwest, where he comes from, deserves the seat for some reasons, among which were the fact that the zone gave APC the highest number of votes during the presidential election and that with 92 lawmakers, the zone has the highest number of members in the House.
Asked if it was true that he was endorsed by the president-elect, Abbas said he met with Tinubu like other aspirants and told the president-elect about his aspiration.
“Each and every contestant for the speakership has at one time or the other visited the president-elect and also visited the members of the NWC for their blessings. I, just like most of them, had cause to visit the president-elect last week, to present myself, to introduce myself, and to also inform him of my aspiration to be the Speaker of the 10th Assembly.
“We had a very engaging discussion with him. At the end of the day, I can tell you he was very happy with my candidature. He prayed for me and also told me that he would do everything possible to ensure that if it is North West that this particular position is zoned to, he would ensure that justice and fairness are done to all the contestants.
“That’s all I can tell you, since no official announcement has not been made as to who is the candidate of the party. I’m sure that question will be squarely and better answered by the party chairman and the NWC, which hopefully by next week, we were told, will sit and come up with the final position,” he said.
On why Tinubu seemed to be impressed with his candidature, Abbas said, “I want to believe, first and foremost, that he is impressed with my legislative contributions. I have told him I’ve been in the National Assembly since 2011, and I’ve been there now for almost 12 years back-to-back, and I’ve contributed in sponsoring a lot of bills.
“In the 8th Assembly, I sponsored 43 bills, which gave me the number 1 ranking in terms of those who sponsored bills. And in the 9th Assembly, I had the singular honour of sponsoring 74 bills, out of which 21 have been assented to by Mr. President, and they’re now laws in the country.
“Beside that, I went to tell him where I come from, my academic background, that I was a teacher in primary school. I was the head of an accounting department of a polytechnic from 1989 to 1993. I was also a head of banking and finance of a polytechnic again between 2003 and 2005. I was the founding head of accounting of the Kaduna State University.
“I told him my private sector experience, that I was a marketing manager with the Nigerian Tobacco Company, which is now the British American Tobacco. I told him my journey there up to the time when I became the general manager of a subsidiary company before I resigned and went back to the classroom in 2001.
“He is impressed with my credentials, the places that I have worked, particularly in the public and private sectors, and also my modest contributions in the National Assembly. I’m sure whatever makes him to say he is happy with me is probably because of those experiences, the qualitications that I have.”
He said he believed that the president-elect also prayed for the other aspirants that visited him, noting that he believed “the president-elect and the party will come up with an acceptable zoning that will be in the mutual interest of each and every Nigerian.”
He said at the end of the party’s zoning arrangement, “every zone will have something to take home. That I can assure you. I know the party will not abandon any region, any zone for whatever reason.”
Asked if the House would be a rubber stamp if he emerges as speaker, Rep. Abbas said there was no basis for anyone to accuse the National Assembly of being rubber stamp as working harmoniously with the Executive arm should not be misunderstood as being weak.
“What makes them think that I am weak? The fact that you don’t come out to insult anybody? The fact that you are a team player; you play along with everyone, you live along with everyone in the House? You don’t have enemies, you have only friends? The fact that you contribute more than any other member in the 9th Assembly? That you are qualified based on public and private sectors’ experience? Does that make me weak?
“Look, what people need to understand is to go and look at the pedigree and antecedents of each and every member. The issue of being rubber stamp is neither here nor there. If you recall in 2019, was it not the president-elect then, Muhammadu Buhari, that pushed for Femi and the Senate President, Lawan, to become the candidates of the party? Are we saying today, after almost four years that those people are the rubber stamps of the Executive? No.”
