By Raphael Ekpang
As the making of the 10th National Assembly leadership draw near, one of the top contenders for the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. (Dr) Abbas Tajudeen has inaugurated campaign coordinators for the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. He alao assured
Addressing the members-elect during the inauguration of his campaign coordinators in Abuja, Hon. (Dr.) Abbas Tajudeen who represents Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State said the House under his leadership will witness robust legislation and inclusiveness.
He revealed that if he emerges as the Speakers of the 10th House of Representatives, he will carry everyone along irrespective of differences in religions, tribes, languages and political parties.
According to him, “Every contestant has a history/antecedent. Go and check it. My secretary is an Igbo woman from South East Geo-political zone. My driver is a Yoruba man from the South West Geo-political zone. I’m not to blow my own trumpet but go and check the record of all the contestants and you will know what each of us stands for.”
On the issue of zoning Tajueen said “We cannot do without zoning of political offices if we need equity and fairness. It is in view of this that our fathers in 1999 started with zoning of various political offices.”
“As you are already aware, our President Elect is from the South West, Vice-President-elect from the North East and National Chairman of our Party, APC is from the North Central.
“I’m not presenting myself because I’m the best person, but I present myself for the sake of equity and fairness.”
Speaking on the 9th National Assembly, Dr. Tajudeen said “I sponsored 75 bills under this administration. Nobody under the Nigerian parliament ever came closer to it. 21 of my bills were assented to by Mr. President. No one in the history of Nigeria Parliament came closer to 10 bills assented to by Mr. President.
“I will give a level playing ground for everyone to contribute their best. I Know what we will touch that we will improve significantly.”
Tajudeen said those alleging that he will be stooge or rubber stamp of the outgoing Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and President Ahmed Tinubu are either ignorant of his antecedent or there are being mischievous.
He noted that separation of power, does not mean to be confrontational.
According to him, many bills and projects related to lawmakers between 2011 to 2015 under PDP and 2015 to 2019 under APC were not properly attended to by the executive arm to constant confrontation and disagreement between the two arms of government.
Abbas Tajudeen who is currently the Chairman, House Committee on Land Transport said his committee by grading is No. 47, adding that in the last 3 ½ years he has not visited the office of the Speaker more than 3 times.
“I will not be teleguided by anybody. We will cooperate but we will not compromise the independence and integrity of the legislature,” he said.
The National Chairman of ‘Unity Group for TJ Abbs for Speaker’, Member-elect, Hon, Eze Nwachukwu Eze, expressed confidence that Dr. Abbas Tajuden who is known for his humility, vibrancy, sincerity and hard work will lead the 10th House of Representatives to achieve the desired results.
Dr. Abbas inaugurated the national coordinators as well as chairman and deputy chairman for each state of the federation and FCT. The officials of the Unity Group for TJ Abbas for Speaker consist of returning and new members who are from APC, PDP, NNPP, LP and APGA.
Recall, that in 1999 when the military handed over power to the democratically elected president, there was zoning arrangement. The then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was from the South West, Ogun State, the Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from the North East, Adamawa State. During the same period, the position of the Senate President was zoned to the South East where Senator Evans Enwerem, Senator Chuba Okadibo and Senator Ayim Pius Ayim all served as Senate President one after the other.
Similarly, the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives was zoned to the North West Geo-political Zone. Hon. Salisu Buhari, Ghali NaAbba and Aminu Masari served as Speaker of the Green Chamber. At that time, the position of the Deputy Senate President went to the North Central and Senator Haruna Abubakar and Senator Ibrahim Mantu also served as the Deputy Senate President respectively. The South South then produced the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Chibodom Nwuche and Hon. Austin Opara. The then Peoples Democratic Party’s Chairman, Solomon Lar, was from North Central.
