A prominent group in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Progressives Foundational Movement (PFM) has thrown its weight behind the choice of Dr. Tajudeen Abass to oversee proceedings of the lower Legislative Chamber in the incoming 10th National Assembly.
The group said Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has a proven track record of leadership in public service and legislative excellence in a statement released on Sunday, May 14 in Abuja by its national coordinator, Barrister Aganaba Johnson.
Barrister Johnson also noted as a former member of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), Hon Tajudeen’s emergence will assuage the feelings of the CPC bloc of the APC.
He 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.”
He added 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.”
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.
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.
The group further noted that:
“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.”
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
