By Raphael Ekpang
As the race for the 10th National Assembly leadership gathers momentum, the North West legislative aids of both chambers under the auspices of National Assembly North West Legislative Forum (NANWLF) have officially endorsed Senator Jibrin Barau and Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas for the position of the Deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively.
Both Senator Barrau and Rt. Hon. Abbas are both from the North West geopolitical zone, meanwhile the group said their choices by the All Progressive Congress (APC) was the best option for the nation
NANWLF chairman, Abdulrazaq Ibrahim while addressing news men in Abuja on Tuesday, noted that irrespective of their political affiliations, they have come to terms that the choices of Barrau and Abbas considering their input over the years in the legislative work at the national assembly should be embrace by all and sundry.
According to Ibrahim, “Irrespective of political affiliations, we, in the North West geopolitical zone, firmly believe that the devine hand of Almighty Allah (God) is truly guiding both of you. Your emergence signifies a shift in politics towards meritocracy, valuing competence over political godfatherism. We expressed our unwavering solidarity and support for your respective aspirations to hold the positions of the Speaker of house and deputy Senate President.
“However, we call on all the contestants to allow the party (APC) supremacy to thrive and eschew their individuals ambitions.”
Abdulrazaq further stated that the North West contributed the highest votes to the APC for the emergenced of the president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, therefore, deserve the two positions.
He insisted that the choice of Sen. Godswill Akpabio for the Senate President was also the best option for the country, as well as the party
Meanwhile, when asked why they feel the Deputy Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Reps should come from the North West, the forum secretary Silas Gabriel said,
“Abbas has the highest bills passed in the house in the 9th assembly, while Barrau is the outgoing Senate Committee Chairman on appropriation and he did excellently well for the red Chambers,” he said
