LIVE UPDATES
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has called on the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress to ensure that the current members of the National Assembly and state legislators retain their position for continuity in 2027.
He also appealed to the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, to address the high turnover rate at the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly.
This was contained in a statement on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Krishi.
Abbas spoke in Kaduna at the North-West APC stakeholders’ forum, according to the statement.
He said, “On the issue of the high turnover of members of the National Assembly, this is a golden opportunity under your (Ganduje’s) tenure to ensure that you do everything humanly possible for current (APC) members of the National Assembly and states Houses of Assembly to return in 2027.
“Some people may say there are others waiting. But I need to emphatically mention that the National Assembly is an institution where the older you are in the system, the better you become.
“Today, the North-West, based on the 2023 elections, is worse off. That is the reason, perhaps, we did not get the kind of prominence we should have got. So, let’s ensure that only the best of us get reelected. We should give the competent ones the opportunity to return to the National Assembly.”
The National Assembly Speaker also advised Ganduje to constitute reconciliation committees that would unite the members of the party nationwide.
He said after last year’s general elections, the APC must now unite all members and focus on governance.
Abbas said, “I want to call on the National Chairman and our party executive to ensure peaceful coexistence among all party members. As previous speakers have said, we are bedevilled by many issues in different states, in every local government.
“It is time to draw a line. Elections are over; this is the time for governance. We should forget what has happened; let’s forgive one another; let’s embrace one another.
“I want to suggest to the National Chairman, and by extension, the National Vice Chairman, to, as a matter of urgency, constitute reconciliation committees for the zone and for every state to constitute the same reconciliation committees so that we can make peace and bring those that we may have offended back to the party.”
Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, harped on the need to promote internal democracy within the ambit of the constitution of the party, arguing that this way, “friction will be lessened and litigation would be reduced.”
The meeting had in attendance, the APC National Chairman, Ganduje, ex-Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, Jigawa State Governor, Malam Umar Namadi, Sokoto State Governor, Ahmad Sokoto, Kebbi State Governor, Dr. Nasir Idris, Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin.
Others were Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Minister of Environment, Mallam Balarabe Abbas; Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hajiya Hannatu Musawa; Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa; Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Matawalle; Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Minister of State for FCT, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud; and Special Adviser on Policy Coordination to President, Hajiya Hadiza Usman, among others.
