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An aspiring Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, has described speculation that he is a puppet of outgoing Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, as groundless and baseless.
He said that those who spread the rumor were ignorant of his background and were mischievous.
Abbas (APC, Kaduna) had this to say in Abuja when he inaugurated his campaign managers of old and new elected members from all political parties in the country.
“Those who claim that I will be the puppet or rubber stamp of the outgoing president, Gbajabiamila, and the president-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, ignore my background or are being mischievous,” he said.
He said the separation of powers did not mean confrontation, adding that as speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, “I will not compromise the independence of the legislature.”
Abbas also said he would not succumb to being remote controlled, but vowed to cooperate with the executive in the national interest.
He vowed to ensure strong and inclusive legislation under his leadership, if he is given the mandate.
“No one will guide me through teleguides when I become Speaker, but I will cooperate but not compromise the independence and integrity of the legislature,” said the candidate.
Mr. Abbas, incumbent chairman of the House Land Transport Committee, representing the Zaria federal constituency of Kaduna state, said he vowed to bring everyone regardless of differences of religion, tribe and political affiliations.
In addition, the legislator, who is from the Northwest, promised to abide by the party’s zoning formula, but said it must be done on the basis of fairness and justice.
“As you know, our president-elect is from the south-west, our vice-president-elect is from the north-east and the national chairman of our APC party is from the north-central so the north-west should have the president,” Abbas explained.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that the coordinators of his campaign group, called the “Unity Group for TJ Abbas for Spokesperson”, consist of new and old members of the APC, PDP, NNPP, LP and APGA.
(YAYA)