Abass Tajudeen: Why I’m the Best for 10th Speakership

Udora Orizu in Abuja

A frontline aspirant for the speakership of the 10th House of Representatives, Hon. Abass Tajudeen, has said his pedigree and valuable contributions to lawmaking in the past 12 years were some of the factors that make him eminently qualified to occupy the number 4 position in the country.

Tajudeen, who represents Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, has been in the National Assembly since 2011 and has the highest number of bills in both the 8th and the current 9th Assembly.

He has sponsored 74 bills in the 9th House, the highest by any individual lawmaker, out of which 21 were signed into law by the president.

The lawmaker, who was reported to have been endorsed by the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, said during a Channels TV programme, Sunday Politics, monitored in Abuja, that he was the lawmaker that the House needed as Speaker.

He noted that the Northwest, where he came from, deserved the seat for some reasons, among which were the fact that the zone gave APC the highest number of votes during the presidential election and that with 92 lawmakers, the zone has the highest number of members in the House.

Asked if it was true that he was endorsed by the president-elect, Abass said he met with Tinubu like other aspirants and told the president-elect about his aspiration.

“Each and every contestant for the speakership has at one time or the other visited the president-elect and also visited members of the NWC for their blessings. I, just like most of them, had cause to visit the president-elect last week, to present myself, to introduce myself, and to also inform him of my aspiration to be the Speaker of the 10th Assembly.

“We had a very engaging discussion with him. At the end of the day, I can tell you he was very happy with my candidature. He prayed for me and also told me that he would do everything possible to ensure that if it is North West that this particular position is zoned to, he would ensure that justice and fairness are done to all the contestants.

“That’s all I can tell you, since no official announcement has not been made as to who is the candidate of the party. I’m sure that question will be squarely and better answered by the party chairman and the NWC, which hopefully by next week, we were told, will sit and come up with the final position,” he said.

On why Tinubu seemed to be impressed with his candidature, Abass said, “I want to believe, first and foremost, that he is impressed with my legislative contributions. I have told him I’ve been in the National Assembly since 2011, and I’ve been there now for almost 12 years back-to-back, and I’ve contributed in sponsoring a lot of bills.

“In the 8th Assembly, I sponsored 43 bills, which gave me the number 1 ranking in terms of those, who sponsored bills. And in the 9th Assembly, I had the singular honour of sponsoring 74 bills, out of which 21 have been assented to by Mr. President, and they’re now laws in the country.

“Beside that, I went to tell him where I come from, my academic background, that I was a teacher in primary school. I was the head of an accounting department of a polytechnic from 1989 to 1993. I was also a head of banking and finance of a polytechnic again between 2003 and 2005. I was the founding head of accounting of the Kaduna State University.

“He is impressed with my credentials, the places that I have worked, particularly in the public and private sectors, and also my modest contributions in the National Assembly. I’m sure whatever makes him to say he is happy with me is probably because of those experiences, the qualifications that I have.”

He said he believed that the president-elect also prayed for the other aspirants that visited him, noting that Tinubu and the party would come up with an acceptable zoning that will be in the mutual interest of each and every Nigerian.

He said at the end of the party’s zoning arrangement, every zone would have something to take home.