An aspirant of the All Progressives Congress for the speakership position in the House of Representatives for the incoming 10th Assembly, Tajudeen Abbas, has said he will not be or lead a rubber stamp parliament if he emerges Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Abass who represents Zaria federal constituency of Kaduna State, North-West zone, is reportedly favoured by both the President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the party to become the Speaker of the next House of Reps.
Speaking during a Channels TV programme, Politics Today, Abass said he has what it takes to be the Speaker.
He said, “What makes them think that I am weak? The fact that you don’t come out to insult anybody? The fact that you are a team player; you play along with everyone, you live along with everyone in the House? You don’t have enemies, you have only friends? The fact that you contribute more than any other member in the 9th Assembly? That you are qualified based on public and private sectors’ experience? Does that make me weak?
“Look, what people need to understand is to go and look at the pedigree and antecedents of each and every member. The issue of being rubber stamp is neither here nor there. If you recall in 2019, was it not the president-elect then, Muhammadu Buhari, that pushed for Femi and the Senate President, Lawan, to become the candidates of the party? Are we saying today, after almost four years that those people are the rubber stamps of the Executive? No.”
He also stated that his pedigree and credentials were what set him apart from others and also the fact that the president-elect was impressed by him.
He is known as the House of Reps member who sponsored the most bills in the outgoing 9th Assembly with about 78 bills to his name.