As controversy continue to trail the composition of the 10th National Assembly leadership, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi State, Comrade Sabo Mohammed, has appealed to members of the party vying for leadership positions to put their personal interests aside for national and party unity.
Sabo Mohammed made the call in an interview with Journalists in Bauchi on Thursday, calling on other contestants to throw their weights behind the choice of the President-elect as Senate President and Deputy, Senator Godswill Apkabio and Sen Jibril Barau Respectively.
The politician said that the contestants should rally round and support Honourable Tajudeen Abbas and Honourable Benjamim Kalu for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives for the unity and progress of the country and the APC.
According to him, “I appreciate and commend the leadership of the party, the President-lect and the Progressive Governors forum for deciding to zone certain principal offices to respective zones.”
He stressed, “It is a realization of the need to involve or to achieve inclusive government and I think my candid position is that we should, as a matter of sacrifice, respect the decision of the party, respect the decision of the President-elect and the decision of the Progressive Governors Forum and work towards the ticket of Akpabio and Barau in the Senate as well Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamim Kalu in the lower chamber.”
Sabo Mohammed further said that “This would help in promoting party discipline as well as upholding party supremacy and this is the best way to go in trying to regain the hitherto lost glory of the party”
He believed that the choice of Akpabio and Barau is like a sealed deal.”
He said that Godswill Akpabio was a Governor for eight years, in the Senate for about 12 years and a Minister for about five years saying, “Akpabio is one of the movers and shakers of the South -South and somebody who his colleagues have described as a garrison politician whose political relationship cuts across party lines , PDP and the APC and has supported the bid of the President elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the extent that he was the first person to withdraw from the race in the interest of peaceful resolution of the presidential primaries and then to pave the way for the success of the party in the just concluded presidential election.”
In the same vein, Sabo Mohammed described Senator Jibrin Barau as a well-polished politician with pedigree saying, “Jibrin, otherwise called Malia is a well-polished grassroots politician who exerts followership in Kano and the North West politics. Their own is a close deal.”
The politician called for support of the choice of Tajudeedn Abass and Benjamin Kalu in the House of Representatives saying, “The ticket that is termed national stability, equity and inclusive parliament.”
He urged the likes of Ahmed Wase, Mukhtar Betara, Soji and others in the race for Speakership to step down for Tajudeen Abbas.
According to him, “They should prioritize national interest, they should prioritize party interest and above all sacrifice their personal ambition for national inclusiveness.”
“if you look at Tajudeen Abbas, his parliamentary system credentials speak volumes. He is eminently qualified to occupy the position of the Speaker more than any other politician in the history of Nigeria. In the 8th Assembly, he sponsored 48 motions and bills, the highest by an individual parliamentarian,” he emphasized.
He further said that, “In the 9th Assembly , Tajudeen Abbas presented over 70 bills and motions out of which 20 have seen the light of Presidential assent . This is unprecedented. That is why his colleagues call him first ranking legislator and he has been in the National Assembly since 2011. Combine his private life, working experience and education to Phd level and a team player, I think Tajudeen will go a long way in raising bar in the National Assembly.”
“That is why there is a wisdom in his selection by the President-elect camp and the governors Forum because he is well qualified to be the speaker of the House of Representatives,” he said.
He also said that, “For Benjamin Kalu, he is a household name in the National Assembly. He is eloquent, erudite and a team player.”
The APC stalwart said that even the opposition are supporting the Tajudeen and Benjamin ticket and therefore commended the decision of Ado Doguwa to withdraw from the race and support Tajudeen’s nomination.
“It will go a long way in solidifying the unity of the country and the unity of the party as well as the issue of inclusiveness. That is why some of us are urging Wase and Betara who are still pursuing their ambition, to have a rethink and support them,” he concluded.
