Defenders of Constitutional Democracy (DCD), a pressure group, applauded the All Progressives Congress (APC), the President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Hon. Tajudeen Abbas for their support of Abbas as the speaker of the new 10th House of Representatives.
Its National Convener, Alhaji Aliyu Abdullahi, and the Director of Contact and Mobilization, Dr. Chukwuma Okoro, co-signed a statement on Sunday in Abuja in which DCD expressed gratitude to Tinubu and the party for rewarding the North West, where Abass was hailed from.
The group reminded that the zone provided the party the most votes in the general elections on February 25, resulting in Tinubu’s victory as the next president.
“We received the news of the zoning of the position of speaker of the House of Representatives to the North West with utmost gladness and the subsequent endorsement of Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abass as the preferred candidate with great joy because a labourer deserves his wages.
“The North West gave the APC 2,652,824 million votes even when both the president elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his vice president elect, Senator Kashim Shettima were not from the zone. In fact, Tinubu got 30 percent of his total votes from the North West. This shows that the zone is loyal to the party and its candidates.
“Therefore, ceding the speakership position to the zone has shown that Tinubu and his team truly believes in a reward system that encourages hardwork, capacity and loyalty. Hon. Tajudeen Abass is the most competent lawmaker from the zone having being the highest bill sponsor in the 8th and 9th Assemblies.
“Hon. Abass is humble, unassuming, competent, reliable and a loyal party man to the core. The incoming administration of Asiwaju Tinubu needs his experience and integrity to properly implement the Renewed Hope Agenda”, the group stated.
The pressure group also appealed to contestants from other geopolitical zones to accept the choice of Abass, urging all hands to be on deck to actualize the objective of the party in moving Nigeria forward.
“As the CDC commends the party for taking this right step, we also appealed to other lawmakers contesting for this position to withdraw in deference to the party’s decision and support Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abass to emerge as the speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.
“We are aware that Tajudeen Abass is just one among equals but there must be one speaker at a time and the lot has fallen on him this time around. The president elect and the party hierarchy have in their wisdom given him the nod to lead the House, therefore, let all the hands be on deck to actualize this dream for the good of our party, parliament, democracy, unity and nation at large.
“We also commend the party’s decision to endorse Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio as Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin as Deputy Senate President and Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu as Deputy Speaker of the House.
“We believe that this combination will usher in the required stability and collaboration with the executive to give the President elect the impetus to take Nigeria to the next level”, the group said.
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