Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th Assembly, no fewer than 150 House of Representatives members elect stormed the national secretariat of the ruling All progressives Congress (APC) in solidarity with its preferred candidate, Dr Tajudeen Abass.
Abass, accompanied by members of the Joint task 10th Assembly team during a consultative meeting expressed appreciation to the Sen Abdullahi Adamu led national working committee (NWC) over the decision to nominate him as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Abbas who represents Zaria federal constituency of Kaduna state on the APC platform reiterated his commitment towards the protection of the interest of the party, the institution of the legislature and the entire country.
He called on the party leadership not to rest on their oars in replicating the successes recorded in the recently held general elections by delivering the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.
Hon. Ben Kalu who expressed appreciation over his nomination as the Deputy Speaker of the House remarked that the decision would calm frayed nerves in the South East geopolitical zone over the cry of exclusion and marginalisation over the power sharing arrangement in the country.
He noted: “You sat and did the right thing. I never visited any of you, I never lobbied any of you, I never gave any of you any money, but you sat and picked me to be the DS. That means you were dispassionate about your decision.
“We are promising you that we will protect the institution. The sovereignty of the Legislature will be upheld but not overlooking inter-dependence of all arms.
“I pledge that my principal will be given the support to succeed.The Southeast is impressed that the party considered us this time around. This shows that the party is diversity sensitive.”
The Co- Chairman of the Joint Task 10th Assembly, Mr Usman Kumo is upbeat that the duo of Abass and Benjamin Kalu would coast home to victory with over 250 out of 360 available votes of newly elected members of the House of Representatives.
Kumo who chairs the House committee on Police Affiars insisted that the decision by the party to settle for the duo of Abass and Benjamin Kalu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives was in tandem with international best practices.
Kumo said the decision by the party was well thought out as the duo do not only have the right temparament, but have the requisite competence and experience to preside over the affairs of the House of Representatives.
Assuring that his team would do all within their powers to ensure they emerge victorious, he warned against the repeat of the acrimonious relationship that existed between the legislature and executive arms under the Senator Bukola Saraki led leadership of the national Assembly.
Kumo who was accompanied by no fewer than 100 members elect drawn from the APC, NNPP, LP, ADC, SDP, APGA assured that the House under the leadership of Tajudeen Abass would sustain the cordial and beneficial working relationship between the executive and legislative arms witnessed within the last four years.
He said: “The Joint Task – 10th Assembly is a group of members-elect of the 10th House who came together for the unity of the country and the stability of the House.You people are talent hunters, and you have hunted well.
“On Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, from 1999 to date, there is no parliamentarian in Nigeria who was privileged to sponsor 74 Bills. What we want to do now is to promote synergy between the Executive and the Legislature. Out of the 74 Bills, 21 were signed into law.
“The chairman of our party is the number one witness that if you go against your party, you may not represent your people well. We intend to promote this product because we need that synergy and harmonious relationship. Our zonal interventions and constituency projects are implemented 100% under the 9th Assembly because of the good relationship between the Executive and the Legislature.
“All of us here are more than willing, the ones you see here, others have left for their constituencies after the induction. We would have brought over 250 members-elect here. We are going to ensure that we implement your zoning undiluted 100 percent.”
Adamu insisted that the decision by the party on the preferred candidates for the national Assembly leadership was arrived at after due consultations with the President -Elect, the NWC members and critical stakeholders of the party across the country.
He admonished the joint task team to sustain the ongoing consultations with those jostling for the speakership seat and other critical stakeholders of the party to calm frayed nerves over the controversy surrounding the zoning arrangement of the party.
Abass who later fielded questions from reporters after the parley with the APC NWC members dismissed the notion held in certain quarters that the party would reverse it’s decision on the zoning arrangement of principal officers of the national Assembly.
“To the best of our knowledge, the party is resolute on its earlier decision to sustain the announcement made earlier. We are not aware there is any change of decision concerning the candidature of my humble self and my colleague from the House of Reps and my colleague in the Senate. There has not been any thing like that to the best of our knowledge.
On the issue of reaching out, he said: “I can assure you we are doing the best we can. Just a week ago if you have observed three aspirants, one of them is here with us, have come out publicly to declare their support for us.
“As we are talking today, I am engaging not less than three other contestants. We are talking and hopeful that at the end of the day we will be able to reach a precise destination.”
On what should Nigerians expect if he emerge the Speaker of the House, he said: “We are assuring them that what we have recorded in the 9th assembly will not only be sustained but it will be improved. Very soon we are coming with our sixteen-point agenda which will address each and every area we feel Nigeria should have improvement in the legislative chamber, please wait for the document to come out, you will see that Nigeria will move forward come June 13 202.”
