Abbas: Independence of legislature won't be compromised under my leadership

Abbas: Independence of legislature won’t be compromised under my leadership

June 01

22:23 2023

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Tajudeen Abbas, a speakership hopeful of the house of representatives, says the 10th assembly won’t be a rubber-stamp if he’s elected.

Abbas spoke on Thursday while briefing journalists after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) had nominated Abbas and Benjamin Kalu for the positions of speaker and deputy speaker of the house of representatives.

Abbas said the ninth assembly which was perceived to be a “rubber-stamp” has been “the best” in the nation’s history by working with the executive for good governance.

He said previous assemblies where the presiding officers were not nominated by the ruling party did not perform more than the ninth parliament.

Femi Gbajabiamila and Ahmad Lawan were the preferred candidates of the APC for the ninth national assembly leadership positions.

“The ninth assembly is by far and I say it with all sense of humility, the best national assembly, that the legislature and the executive had a very mutually beneficial relationship,” Abbas said.

“So many things were accomplished. So many things that ordinarily we would not have thought or contemplated would be achieved, were achieved.

“So whoever is talking about the rubber stamp national assembly does not know the workings of the national assembly.

“Nobody, speaker or senate president, deputy speaker or senate president — nobody can manipulate the 360 members of the house of representatives to make them do what is not in the best interest of the public.

“We have shown from our conduct in the ninth assembly that for the very first time, even with the cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature, we had cause for the very first time to summon Mr President (Muhammadu Buhari) to come to the national assembly to address some issues of security as at that time.”

Abbas said there has “never been any compromise” in the national assembly and that the autonomy of the parliament has always been maintained and would continue to be so.

“There will be no way that the independence of our national assembly under our leadership will be compromised. This you can take to the market,” he said.