10th Speaker: Betara, Gagdi Step Down For Abbas

…Tinubu fully behind Abbas, Kalu…Joint Task

Barely 48 hours to the inauguration of the National Assembly, two foremost aspirants for the position of speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Muktar Betara (APC, Borno) and Hon. Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau) Sunday step down for the All Progressives Congress (APC) anointed candidate, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Joint Task -10th Assembly, a caucus of members-elect from the 8th parties that won seats in the 10th Assembly.

According to the caucus, the duo announced their withdrawal shortly after a meeting with President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in Abuja.

The group said “It is worthy to note that Betara and Gagdi announced that they stepped down for Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas today, Sunday June 11, 2023 after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.

“It is pertinent to mention that the so-called G7 no longer exists as key members of the forum such as Rt. Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Rt. Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, Rt. Hon. Makki Yalleman and Rt. Hon. Raheem Tunji Olawuyi, among others have since dropped their speakership ambitions and declared support for the Abbas/Kalu ticket.

The statement said with the withdrawal of Betara and Gagdi, Abbas has secured enough votes to coast to victry on Tuesday.

“As of Sunday June 11, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas (PhD) has secured the endorsement of the overwhelming majority of members-elect across the eight political parties in the six geopolitical zones, and he is ready to compete on the floor of the House and take the mantle of leadership of the 10th House come Tuesday, June 13, 2023”.

The group also urged the public and lawmakers-elect to ignore insinuations and media reports that President Tinubu did not publicly endorsed the candidates anointed by the APC for presiding positions in the National Assembly.

“It has come to the attention of the Joint Task – 10th Assembly that some aspirants for the Speakership of the 10th House of Representatives claimed that the President/Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, never mentioned the name of Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas as his preferred candidate for speaker, but that the President only said he aligned with the position of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) on zoning arrangement.

“For the records, the APC NWC announced on Monday, May 8, 2023 that it consulted with the President before reaching that resolution. Below is the excerpts of the APC NWC’s announcement:
“The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) met today, Monday, May 8, 2023 to consider reports of consultations and meetings held with the President-Elect, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, other party leaders, and stakeholders on zoning arrangement for 10th National Assembly leadership positions.

“The zoning arrangement reported to the NWC is as follows: Senate President – South South – Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Deputy Senate President – North West – Senator Barau Jibrin (Kano).

“Speaker, House of Representatives – North West – Hon. Abass Tajudeen [Kaduna], Deputy Speaker – South East – Hon. Ben Kalu (Abia).”

“Therefore, it is preposterous to claim that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not aware of the adoption of Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas as speaker. We urge the public, especially the media, to disregard such claims”.