10th NASS: APC Movement defends endorsement of Abbas as next Speaker

*Says competence, productivity, defunct CPC factor considered

*Urges Tinubu, NWC to resist pressures

As the race for the Speakership of the House of Representatives intensifies, a prominent group of the ruling party, Progressives Foundational Movement (PFM) has thrown it’s weights behind the choice of Dr. Tajudeen Abass to oversee proceedings of the lower Legislative Chamber in the 10th Assembly.

The group said Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, apart from his academic excellence and a proven track record of leadership in public service and legislative excellence, the lawmaker was a member of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), one of the political parties that merged to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement released Sunday in Abuja by the group’s national coordinator, Barrister Aganaba Johnson, said “it will amount to injustice against the defunct CPC members in the APC if other defunct parties like Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that produced the President-elect, the defunct All Nigerians Peoples Party (ANPP) produced Vice President-elect and the New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) is allowed to Produce the Senate President, then Hon. Tajudeen Abbas should be given opportunity to represent the defunct CPC as Speaker House of Representatives.”

According to the statement, Hon. Abbas’s productive and enviable record of sponsoring 20 assented out of his 78 Bills in the 9th Assembly, singled him out conspicuously among all the contenders for the position of the 10th Assembly Speaker.

Barrister Johnson said the leadership of APC also considered the right temperament all the aspirants, their integrity and their public service experiences before the endorsement of the Kaduna born politician.

While commending the President-elect and the Senator-elect Abdullahi Adamu led NWC, the group added that the choice of Abbas “is a a well thought out decision that would be in the best interest of the country.”

Johnson said: “In the history of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas has the highest Bills of 78 in the 9th Assembly, he has the 3rd highest Bills of 43 in the 8th Assembly and 20 of these Bills have been assented to.

“The country must endeavour to sustain the successes recorded in the outgoing 9th Assembly whereby there are tangible achievements due to the cordial relationship between the executive and legislative arms.

“We don’t want the situation capable of igniting confusion and turbulence in the parliament, which may ultimately affect the cordial environment that the legislature needs to function.

“It is axiomatic that we are in a democracy and people are free to ventilate and express themselves but we must exercise this right with some measure of caution and responsibility so as not to heat up the system.

“In order to develop our legislative democracy, the lawmakers must avoid negative and offensive opposition, which is averse to development and prone to avoidable conflicts between the executive and the legislature.

“This time, therefore, calls for building bridges across political divides and not burning bridges for personal or political reasons. Nigeria should be placed above any other interest,” the national coordinator said.

The statement also urged the President-elect and the party leadership to resist all forms of pressure and blackmail by allowing supremacy of the party decision to stand.

The group also tasked other Speakership aspirants “Not to rock the boat but work for the success of the party and larger interest of the nation.

“We appealed to all the aggrieved aspirants to the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives to accept the endorsement of Hon. Tajudeen Abass as the next Speaker as an act of God.

“There is no need to gang up against the anointed candidates and the party because the opposition is waiting in the wings to exploit your differences. Please, do not throw the party into disarray because of leadership positions.”

The statement further added that the same party leadership had given some of the aggrieved aspirants to hold one position or the other in the past.

“Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase is the Deputy Speaker today courtesy of the party’s benevolence ditto Rt. Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa as leader of the House and Rt. Hon. Muktar Betara who chairs the Committee of Appropriation. The party gave all of you the platform on which you contested for elections, so this is payback time.

“We have vested interest in the success of the President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration starting from May 29 this year and this can only be achieved if the ongoing cordial relationship between the Executive and Legislative arms is sustained.

“Never again should we return to the era of acrimonious relationship between the executive and legislative arms experienced during the tenure of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and even during the first tenure of our outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari between 2015 -2019.”