Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr Tajudeen Abbas said Tuesday that the lawmakers at the lower chamber of the legislature would not side with the executive arm of government against the people.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Abbas said the House of Representatives under his leadership would not be a rubber stamp.
He said that majority of the lawmakers l wouldn’t have voted for him and the Deputy Speaker if they were mere puppets and rubber stamps.
“Look at the acceptance rate, those who have elected us cut across party lines, almost all the PDP, SDP, ADC and all other minority parties voted us. So if they felt that we are going to be rubber stamps, do think they will elect us? No.
“They believe that we will safeguard the sanctity of the National Assembly, the legislator, 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 said.
Reflecting on the campaign journey, the Speaker spoke on the misconceptions pushed by others in the race that made some people to believe that his rise to power was unlikely.
He said though he was written off and seen as being “imposed by the party” and unable to garner the necessary support, his 353 votes out of the 359 total votes made it clear that his emergence was anything but accidental.
“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.
“But 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 were established 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 the parliament,” he said.
Also speaking, the Deputy Speaker Mr Benjamin Kalu said Nigerians should expect the fulfillment of the commitments they have made while campaigning across the country.
“Well, we promised things 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’re at our own bricks to the nation building wall. And this extend to creation of jobs, reduction of poverty, policies that goes into enhancing our energy sources, policies that will help us create more local content usage in this country. Manufacturing will help us reduce importation and increase exportation that will stimulate our economy.
“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,” he said.
