An aspirant for the Speaker position in the House of Representatives for the upcoming 10th Assembly, Tajudeen Abbas has revealed the details of his recent meeting with President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
Like other candidates, Abbas sought Tinubu’s support for his speakership bid ahead of the inauguration of lawmaker-elects.
Abbas in an interview on Channels TV said he introduced himself and informed Tinubu of his aspiration to become the Speaker.
He said, “Each and every contestant for the speakership has at one time or the other visited the president-elect and also visited the 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, 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.
“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.”
He also highlighted his background as a primary school teacher, head of accounting at a polytechnic and Kaduna State University, and marketing manager with the Nigerian Tobacco Company.
Abbas shared that Tinubu was pleased with his credentials and experience in both public and private sectors, as well as his contributions to the National Assembly.
The lawmaker said, “I told him my private sector experience, that I was a marketing manager with the Nigerian Tobacco Company, which is now British American Tobacco. I told him about my journey there up to the time when I became the general manager of a subsidiary company before I resigned and went back to the classroom in 2001.
“He is impressed with my credentials, the places that I have worked, particularly in the public and private sectors, and also my modest contributions to the National Assembly. I’m sure whatever makes him say he is happy with me is probably because of those experiences, the qualifications that I have.”
