By Olugbenga Salami
The chance of Hon. Tajudeen Abass to become the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, became brightened following the unresolved differences between the aggrieved speakership aspirants known as G-7 and the National Working Committee, NWC of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC which caused major division in the ranks of the group.
The aspirants, who forged alliance with Hon. Aliyu Betara, have been divided as one of them, the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, has withdrawn from the race to back APC’s anointed candidate, Hon. Tajudeen Abass.
Recall that the other aspirants known as the G-7 comprising the outgoing Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase, Muktar Aliyu Betara, Aliyu Sani Jaji, Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, Miriam Onuoha, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Sada Soli Jibia, and Makki Abubakar Yalleman, with the exception of Hon. ÀbdulRaheem Olawuyi, all swore to back one aspirant from among them to run against the party’s anointed candidate.
Doguwa, who announced his withdrawal from the race in support of Abbas, was also accompanied by two other aggrieved aspirants, Hon. Abdulraheem Tunji Olawuyi, from Kwara State and Hon. Makki Abubakar Yalleman from Jigawa State respectively.
Speaking at a meeting of the aspirants with some opposition members-elect at the instance of the Joint Task-10th Assembly, a group of members-elect from across the eight political parties, the Majority Leader advised Betara and other aggrieved aspirants to respect party supremacy and endorse Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu for Speaker, Deputy respectively.
“Perhaps it won’t be out of place, Mr Speaker if I put your name on quote as the Mr Fix it of this time. I wish you well and I hope you will continue to fix it for the Nigerian people. I call you ‘Mr fix it’ because the way you are fixing it, I can see that you are doing it for the overall interest of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“My respected honourable colleagues and my brother the Prince of Zazzau, the Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, this year will be highly eventful for the Zazzau Emirate.
“My honourable colleagues, especially those who are looking at me eyeball to eyeball. Don’t imagine that my appearance here is by accident. Don’t think you are day dreaming, you are not day dreaming, this is reality. Before you is Rt. Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the Chief Whip of the 8th Assembly and by the leave of my colleagues and the chief leave of the Right Honourable Speaker, the Majority Leader of the 9th House of Representatives.
“I am here to put on record that not just from today, that right from day one that the NWC, the National Working Committee of my party put it on the table that they have come up with their zoning arrangement, and after zoning with all sense of morality micro-zoned it to the North-West, and micro-micro-zoned it to my brother Tajudeen Abbas, representing Zaria Federal Constituency of North-West Nigeria.
“As from that day, I therefore called my bid to contest for the speakership of the 10th House of Representatives off. I had to do that because I’m a man of the establishment. I had to do that because I’m also a beneficiary of the same kind of arrangement. I have benefited from party arrangements, I have personally benefited from this zoning arrangement. That was what gave me the position of the Chief Whip of the 8th House of Representatives even when there were issues, still the zoning helped me.
“Today I’m the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives courtesy of the National Working Committee of my party. My great brothers and sisters, courtesy demands that it’s only fair that I also stand by the position of the National Working Committee of My party. It’s not like the table is turning against me, no. It’s just that time has come for me to also pay back. And I think paying back in this circumstances is a great responsibility that I must oblige.
“I rise before you this evening my colleagues and Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, and flanking me are Rt. Hon. Abdulraheem Tunji Olawuyi and Rt. Hon. Makki Abubakar Yalleman. We are here individually and collectively stepping into the shoes of this great campaign.
“We all wanted to be Speakers not because we knew there could be so many Speakers at every given point in time, there can be only one Speaker and we have individually and collectively decided to come and surrender our bids to be Speaker to our great party, and we also defer on record to our great gentleman that was picked by the party to run for the Speakership officially on behalf of our great party, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas.
“We are also of the opinion that the selection process of the Art. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas was not in any way bias. We are also quite aware that the person of Tajudeen Abbas and his running mate, are qualified to hold their respective offices,” Doguwa stressed.
