Why Tinubu Endorsed Me For 10th Speakership – Abbas Reveals

Tajudeen Abbas, a member from the APC in Kaduna State’s Zaria Federal Constituency, has made a case for why Bola Tinubu, the incoming president, supported him for the position of Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.

In a Sunday interview, Abbas asserted that Tinubu may have sponsored him because of his legislative temperament and credentials. He also claimed that the North-West geopolitical zone should produce the Speaker.

He added that the President-elect might have approved of him for the 10th Speakership position based on his contributions to the National Assembly.

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The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Democratic Party will ratify Abbas’s support by Tinubu, who was a guest on the Channels Television program.

“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.”

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the party has not yet made a formal announcement regarding the zoning of the National Assembly leadership.

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The camp of Ahmed Idris Wase, the Deputy Speaker of the 9th Assembly, has criticized Tinubu’s purported support for Abbas.

Rep. Olufemi Bamisile (APC, Ekiti), a supporter of Wase, said it was odd that an aspirant was endorsed without consultation when speaking with reporters over the weekend.

He asserts that the Wase camp was not consulted regarding the aforementioned endorsement and that they only learned of it via newspapers and social media.

He pointed out that it has always been customary for the president to summon MPs from the ruling party and speak with them about the course he would like things to take after appropriate consultations, but that hasn’t happened 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.

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“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.

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“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.

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