From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, has congratulated Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu on their election as Speaker and deputy speaker of the 10th House respectively.
Wase, who lost out in the contest for the speakership position, urged his supporters and other contestants for the leadership of the House to support Abbas and Kalu to achieve a stable and united parliament.
The former Deputy Speaker, in a statement, noted that his participation in the speakership contest was more about “making a case for what I considered a lack of equity and fairness in the manner in which my party’s zoning was done much more than it was about winning.”
Nevertheless, Wase stated that he intends to participate actively in the activities of the House in the 10th assembly, as well as continue to represent his constituency and the country at large.
“As a politician who has been engaging in elections since 2007 and has returned to the House for the 5th term, I verily understand that every contest must generate its necessary contentions. However, in the end, we have to come together to confront the bigger matters of stability of the Parliament and enriching Legislative Governance to deepen our collective democracy.
“In this light, I wish to once again congratulate the Rt Hon Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu on their victory and urge my supporters and well-wishers, as well as my fellow contestants to give them all the cooperation required to achieve a stable and united 10th House of Representatives.
“I intend to fervently and actively participate in all Legislative Business of the 10th Assembly and will continue to proudly represent not only the good people of Wase Federal Constituency but Nigerians at large. I thank my mentor and Leader, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, GCFR for his continuous fatherly support and counsel which he has sustained from my early days in ACN till date.
“I thank my constituents who have consistently demonstrated their unalloyed faith in and support for me by continuously returning me to the Green Chambers now for the 5th term to represent them. I will continue to represent you well.”