The immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, shared some words of encouragement to his successor, Tajudeen Abbas, noting that he hopes he would continue from where he concluded his tenure.
Abbas was elected as the new Speaker of the lower legislative chamber during the inauguration of the 10th national assembly on Tuesday, June 13.
He defeated Idris Wase and Sani Jaji by a landslide to win the election at the green chambers.
Benjamin Kalu, the lawmaker from Abia state, was elected as the deputy speaker unopposed.
Abbas polled 353 votes, while Wase and Jaji got three votes each.
While presenting his handover note, Gbajabiamila said he believes Abbas will do a “good job”, adding that he has the required legislative experience.
“On behalf of the members of the ninth and 10th assembly, I congratulate you on your election as the speaker of the 10th assembly,” he said.
He expressed confidence that Abbas would do a good job, saying:
“On behalf of your members, I hand over handover notes as the Speaker of the 9th assembly. This will guide you, and I hope you continue from where I left.”
Abbas, 59, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2011 on the platform of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
He is a prince from the Zazzau emirate and holds the traditional title of Iyan Zazzau.
