The lawmaker representing Zaria Federal Constituency (APC – Kaduna State), Tajudeen Abbas, has asserted why President-elect, Bola Tinubu, endorsed his candidature for the Speakership of the 10th House of Representatives.
Speaking during an interview on Sunday, Abbas, who insisted that the North-West geopolitical zone is the rightful place to produce the Speaker, said Tinubu may have endorsed him after he was impressed with his legislative disposition and credentials.
He also said the President-elect may have also considered his contribution to the National Assembly to have given him a positive nod for the 10th Speakership position.
Abbas, who was featured on the Channels Television programme said, reiterated that his endorsement by Tinubu is not wrong and will be ratified by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
“I visited the president-elect like other contestants to present myself and to inform him of my aspiration to become the Speaker of the 10th Assembly,” Abbas said, asserting that Tinubu was very happy with his candidature and that he assured him if the position was zoned to the North West, he would do his best to ensure that justice was done to all contestants.
Responding to the inquisitive of the journalists on the qualities Tinubu saw in him to offer him prayers and support, Abbas said, “I want to believe he (Tinubu) is impressed with my legislative disposition, credentials, places I have worked, and my contribution in the National Assembly.”
He, however, confirmed that the party has yet to announce a formal position on the zoning of the National Assembly leadership.
Wase’s Camp Rejects Endorsement Of Abbas
Tinubu’s alleged endorsement of Abbas, however, has been opposed by the camp of Deputy Speaker of the 9th of Assembly, Ahmed Idris Wase, OsunDaily News learnt.
Interacting with newsmen during the weekend, a member of Wase’s camp, Rep. Olufemi Bamisile (APC, Ekiti), said it was strange that there was an endorsement of an aspirant without consultations.
According to him, the Wase camp was not consulted about the said endorsement, adding that they only read the information in the newspapers and through social media.
He noted that the tradition has always been that the president would invite lawmakers from the ruling party and talk to them about the direction he would want things to go after due consultations, saying there has been nothing like that so far.
“The truth of the matter is that nobody was consulted on the matter, and I don’t understand what you mean by endorsement when we are not consulted. We are talking about a national party, and the leadership cuts across the six geopolitical zones.
“If you are going to endorse a person, which obviously is the right of the party, you have to do consultations across the various zones. I don’t think I can remember any meeting that was called to endorse anyone.
“I remember when, in 2011, the ACN then, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, our very good leader and president-elect, called all the members of the party in ACN to the state house in Lagos and gave a directive on the pattern of votes.
“Equally, in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, when he came into office, requested that all members be brought into the Villa and it was collectively told to us who he wanted.
“I remember in 2019, we were called to the villa and asked to support the person of Femi Gbajabiamila, which we all did unanimously. This time, too, we are not going to be spoken to by proxy. The president-elect will have to speak to everybody, or else the leadership of every zone should talk to us.
“That is what I think is the right way. I don’t think that such a meeting will be cornered somewhere and for us to be told that someone has been endorsed. That is not the way to go,” Bamisile told Daily Trust in a telephone interview yesterday.
