The new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abass, has declared that the Green Chamber will not hesitate to move against the executive arm whenever it works against the interest of the Nigerian populace.
He also assured that the 10th House of Representatives will not be a rubber stamp in the hands of the executive.
Abass, who said this Tuesday while speaking to newsmen after a thank you visit to President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, said: “We will always separate our independence and we will relate and be able to harmonize with the executive where necessary, but where there is a conflict of interest, where we feel that the executive is or wants to do something that is not in the interest of the public, they know that we’ll stand up against that”.
He also emphasised that the wide acceptability, depicted by the cross-party support during his election earlier in the day, put a lie to the picture previously painted that he was being imposed by the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Responding to a question about the House he would be presiding over being a rubber stamp, Abass said “if you talk about rubber stamp, look at the acceptance rate, those who have elected those across party lines, almost all the whole entire PDP, SDP, ADC and all other minority parties voted us.
“So if they felt that we are going to be rubber stamps, do you think they will elect us? No. They believe that we will safeguard the sanctity of the National Assembly, the legislature.
Speaking on his election as Speaker, he said “what I can tell you is that right from day one, when we started this campaign, it was always good, but the impact of social media propaganda of some of the contestants distorted the entire picture of what was on the ground.
“To God be the glory, today people have seen our level of popularity and acceptance by our members and it has put to shame those who always thought that we were imposed by the party and that we don’t have the numbers.
“Today, people have seen that we have established a record that has never been established in the past; 353 out of 359 members, electing us. It is unprecedented, it has never ever happened in the history of Parliament”, he said.
Also speaking, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu said the 10th House of Representatives will be delivering the promises its members made to their constituents by working with the executive.
He said: “We promised during the time we went to all the constituencies in the Federal Republic, canvassing for votes, the promise that we’re going to ensure that nation-building remains a joint task that will not be left only for the executive, the judiciary to handle. We promised that we are going to be there to make sure we bring our own bricks to the nation-building work and this extends to creation of jobs, reduction of poverty, policies that go into enhancing our energy sources, policies that will help us create more local content usage in this country.
“Manufacturing now help us reduce importation and increase exportation that will stimulate our economy. And as you see in the past 15 days, Mr. President has been taking the right decisions you know, on issues. We want to sustain that through legislative support, legislative intervention to make sure that together, we build a nation we will be proud of”.
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
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