Barring unforeseen circumstances, the lawmaker representing Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, will become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, Iwitneslive can report.
The race for the Speakership of the 10th Assembly has been one of the hottest in recent times with about 10 aspirants jostling to succeed the current occupier of the seat Femi Gbajabiamila.
Apart from Tajudeen Abbas who is the Chairman Committee on Land Transport in the 9th Assembly, others in the race include Deputy Speaker Idris Wase; Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Aliyu Betara; Chairman of, the Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi; Chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu; Chairman, Committee on Land Transport, Tajudeen Abbas; Chairman, Committee on Disaster Preparedness, Abdulraheem Olawuyi; Chairman, Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli; Makki Yalleman, Sani Jaji and House Leader, Ado Doguwa.
Wase and Batera were believed to be leading the race but the pendulum has shifted in favour of Abbas who is fondly called TJ as the President-elect Bola Tinubu is said to have endorsed the Kaduna State-born politician for the post.
The position of the Speaker is set to be zoned to the North-West as the biggest contributor to Tinubu’s victory after the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress has agreed with the President-elect to cede the Senate Presidency to the South-South to allow for the emergence of a Christian occupier of the post to cushion the effect of the religious imbalance in the presidency.
Wase and Batera were effectively ruled out because they are not from the North-West. Wase if from Plateau State in the North-Central while Batera is from Borno in the North-East, the same place where the vice president-elect Kashim SHettima, hails from.
“The President-Elect and the Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC of APC have concluded the decision to name TJ (Abbas) as the next Speaker but they are still consulting with the other aspirants so that they can accept the decision of the party. Batera and Wase particularly are very close to the members and if not well placated, they may join forces with the opposition to thwart the plans of their party.
“The plans also include making Batera the leader of the House; he will succeed Doguwa while Kalu from Abia State is being considered as the Deputy Speaker,” the source said.
Tajudeen Abbas is a doctorate degree holder in Business Management from Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto.
He was awarded his PhD in the year 2010. Earlier, the lawmaker had, in 1993, obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University. Iyan Zazzau is also a Bachelor’s degree holder in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He obtained a degree with flying colours in 1988.
Tajudeen also obtained a Diploma in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University in 1984. He had much earlier attended Kaduna Teacher’s College (KTC) where he obtained a grade II certificate in 1981. He also studied and passed his West African School Certificate Examination at the Government Secondary School, Makarfi in 1978. He had earlier obtained his First School Leaving Certificate at the LEA Primary School, Lemu, Zaria in 1976.
He has been in the House since 2011 when he won a seat under the defnct Congress for Progressives Change.
