From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
A group, the Niger Delta Rights Advocates (NDRA), has said the House of Representatives under Hon Tajudeen Abbas, as Speaker will be more stable and productive, stressing the need not to fall for the age-long debate of zoning, religion, class or age which are sentiments and gimmicks crafted by political oppressors in order to continuously hold down the oppressed.
In a statement signed by Bright Ngolo on behalf of the Niger Delta Rights Advocates, the group argued that the beauty of democracy is in the separation of powers and that the legislature should remain the bastion of democracy by maintaining its position as the voice of the electorate.
It stressed that the Nigerian-styled democracy needs to strike a balance between legislative activism and achieving results in the overall interest of a largely underdeveloped populace and economy.
According to the statement, “The NDRA stands on the platform of merit, service, patriotic zeal, transparency and loyalty to the Nigerian project which are viral ingredients to unshackle our people from the twin evil of poverty and ignorance. Therefore, we are emboldened to set a clear agenda for the leadership that we wish for Nigerians, which must be built on transparency, accountability, trust, intelligence and above all youthfulness.
“We cannot talk about the leadership of the most important arm of the National Assembly, which aggregates the totality of our diversities as a people, without talking about getting a leadership that will prioritise the needs of the long-suffering and marginalized people whether they are found in the Niger Delta or Benue or Kafanchan or Kaura Namode. Our interest is to project Nigeria with priority for setting a legislative framework that will banish poverty.
“We are not unaware of the diversities in interests and the aspirations of other candidates for the Speakership of the House of Representatives, but we cannot fall for cheap, pedestrian and jaundiced theories on the arguments of zoning of positions. These emotional arguments have indeed succeeded in eroding the key argument of the capacity and competence of these aspirants.
“We appeal to the media not to fall for this ugly narrative as this will only help derail the gains our democracy has made so far. Our major question for those arguing against the preference of Hon Tajudeen Abbas, member representing Zaria federal constituency in the House of Representatives is – Does he qualify to serve as Speaker of the House? Our answer is a capital YES.
“Hon Abbas has never been lazy ever since he joined the House of Representatives, in the life of the outgoing Assembly, he ranks as one of the most useful contributors with a total of 73 Bills!
“The NDRA is minded therefore to throw our weight behind someone who brings what we call generational balance in the current leadership equation of the country and also an intellectually brilliant fellow, a holder of a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Business Administration and Management.
“We hereby renew our call on members-elect across divides to aggregate their support and queue behind an Abbas/Kalu leadership. We note that given the time frame left for the House to be inaugurated, a lot more consultations have been made amongst stakeholders and the Legislative Agenda of Abbas/Kalu, two of the brightest members of the 9th House who by the grace of God and the electorates have found themselves re-elected by their people, it would be natural for us as a pressure group to appeal for the support of all members to ensure their emergence on the 13th of June 2023.
“On the other hand, we appeal to the National Working Committee of the APC not to renege on consulting all aspirants to ensure that the right thing is done to build iron-cast consensus and ensure the emergence of the pan-Nigerian candidate as leader of the 10th Assembly.
“We also want to state that Nigerians have suffered from excuses of poor leadership as a result of ethnic, religious or other primordial sentiments. We warn that those we agitate for today must not turn themselves into agents of oppression and suppression or promoters of anti-people policies, as the NDRA shall not hesitate to rally Nigerians against unpopular decisions of any arm of government.
For us and our allies across the country, as of today, we do believe that the mandate of Speaking for all Nigerians should rest on the shoulders of Tajudeen Abbas. Having contributed immensely to the growth of the democratic process with the sponsorship of 73 bills in the 9th Assembly alone, combined it another 43 bills to his credit during his time at the 8th Assembly, we believe that the task of building bridges will be effortless across several interests to stabilise the leadership of the 10th House of Representatives and by extension, the nation. We reason that it would cost us more as a nation if we keep sacrificing our best brains on the altar of primordial sentiments such as zoning or religion.
“On the altar of merit, Hon Abbas stands tall and is qualified to lead the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.
“Finally, the emergence of Hon Abbas will change the complexion and complexities of National Assembly politics in the 10th Assembly and in the 4th Republic. Tajudeen Abbas and Ben Kalu’s leadership of the House is a sinequanon for youth inclusion as our youths are in clear majority amongst the voting population according to statistics released by the INEC headquarters.
“The NDRA therefore presents to Nigerians, two agents that emblematise our quest for a Renewed Hope!”