10th House Speakership: APC Governors Back Abbas, Kalu

Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have backed Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu to emerge as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the coming 10th House of Representatives.

The Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, stated this in Abuja on Monday when he hosted the campaign team of the Abbas/Kalu joint ticket led by the Joint Task–10th Assembly.

Recall that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC had on May 8, 2023, released the zoning formula for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.

The ruling party picked Abbas from Kaduna (North-West) as the Speaker; and Kalu from Abia (South-East) as Deputy Speaker.

Speaking during the meeting at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge, Uzodinma said the APC had made the best choice of presiding officers for the incoming Green Chamber.

He added that the least the governors should do is to ensure that the party’s preference and vision are actualized on June 13 when the 10th National Assembly is billed for inauguration.

Uzodinma, commended members of the coalition who are drawn from the 8 political parties that won seats in the 10th House, saying they made the right decision to support the joint ticket.

He said, “I congratulate you once more for the success you achieved in the last election, and to commend you for coming together to form an alliance towards the speakership race. You have taken a good decision to support these two gentlemen.

“What we are practising today is democracy and the APC is the ruling party, and you have a responsibility now to help the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to succeed. And we all know that the most sensitive arm of the government is the Legislature and if we make a mistake with it, the other two arms would be affected.

“If the parliament is right, the government will be right. I want to urge you to reach out to those who are aggrieved, to persuade them to see the reason to agree with us. When you have a situation such as this, you will tell others your party is the best and in this instance, APC is in the majority; and we have to demonstrate maturity by forging a common front in unity.”

He added: “There is no such thing as imposition, it is for the benefit of all of us and the synergy will help us to achieve more for our people back home. If you say that, it means you’re willing and ready to disagree with the majority, including the government.

“We know you have the power of appropriation, but when you appropriate, what about cash-backing? You certainly don’t want to go home after four years and tell your people you couldn’t achieve anything because you were not cooperating with the Executive for their benefit. But when you work in harmony, you will reap the benefits of the cooperation and your people back home will be the better for it.”

Earlier, Abbas thanked Uzodinma for throwing his weight behind the ticket, saying that he trusts in his love for the parliament, being a product of the legislature himself.