Ahead of the proclamation of the 10th National Assembly, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is under pressure to cede the seat of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the northwest geopolitical zone of the country.
The lobby group believed to have the support of Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai argues that the zone contributed in no small measure in the victory of President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the recently held presidential poll.
The House Leader, Ado Alhassan Doguwa, the former Chairman of the House Committee on internal security and Intelligence, Aminu Sani Jaji and Tajudeen Abass are among the leading contenders for the plum job.
APC’s Vice National Chairman North West, Dr Salihu Lukman who is already in support of the clamour stressed the need for the leadership profile of the 10th National Assembly to take the colouration of the leadership of the country in 1999 which had a President from South-West and Vice President from North-East.
He argued that it has become compelling that the Senate President should come from either the South-South or South-East while the North-West which produced more votes for the party in the Presidential election be allowed to produce the position of Speaker House of Representatives in line with what obtained in 1999.
Already, a member of the lobby group who asked not to be named confided in the Guardian that they are looking the way of Tajudeen Abbas to occupy the plum job.
He argued that since Kano, Katsina, and Sokoto states had produced the Speakers of the House, it would be just and fair to cede the seat to Kaduna state this time around.
Recall that former Speakers of the House, Messrs Salisu Buhari and Ghali Umar Na’Abba hailed from Kano state, while Aminu Bello Masari and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal were from Katsina and Sokoto states respectively.
Abass representing the Zaria federal constituency of Kaduna state is a three-termer who enjoys the full support of Governor el-Rufai who is said to be demanding speakership as compensation for his unflinching support for Tinubu,
Popularly referred to as ‘Mr. Bills’ by most analysts, the Iyan Zazzau has shown that he is not a run off the mill lawmaker but one who is prepared knows the road, follows it and lives it.
In the 8th Assembly, Abass emerged as the third-highest sponsor with 43 bills and 13 motions. Presently, he is the highest bill sponsor in the 9th Assembly with 78 bills and seven motions to his credit.
Of these bills, President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to 20 of them, which is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria’s parliament.
Abass promises to give a strong fight in the run for the office should the party zone it to the North West. He is a loyal party man and would certainly not rock the boat if the party decides to zone it to another geopolitical area.
The 57 years old lawmaker has been the Caucus Leader, Kaduna State, House of Representatives since 2019 and chaired the Sub Committee on Constitutional Review Conference for North Central GeoPolitical in 2021. He also served as the Treasurer, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (African Chapter), Governing Council member of the Nigeria Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies 2019 to Date, (NILDS) representing North West Geo-Political Zone.
Abass holds a Ph.D in Business Management from Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto. He began his primary education at LEA Primary School, Lemu in Zaria in 1970 and got his First School Leaving Certificate in 1976. He was at Government Secondary School, Makarfi between 1976 and 1978 but was later transferred to Katsina Teachers College in 1978 and passed out in 1981 with the Teachers Grade II Certificate. He later obtained a diploma in Accounting at the Ahmadu Bello University in 1984. He would later return to ABU in 1985 and graduated in 1988 with a B.Sc. in Business Administration and capped it up with a Masters of Business Administration in 1993 at the same university.
