Sani Jaji, a newly elected member of the House of Representatives, has declared for the position of Speaker in the upcoming 10th assembly.
Bellnewsonline.com reports that Jaji who hails from Zamfara formally announced his bid for the speakership on Thursday during a gathering at the prestigious Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
With a resolute determination, the representative-elect emphasized his commitment to fortify the legislative process within the National Assembly and invigorate the country’s economy if elected as Speaker.
Expressing his disapproval, Jaji sternly criticized the All Progressives Congress (APC) for attempting to impose candidates for the leadership positions in the House, firmly stating that such a practice should not be tolerated.
As previously reported by this newspaper earlier this month, the APC put forward Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu as its preferred candidates for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively.
However, these nominations have encountered resistance from six aspirants who have joined forces to ensure that the Speaker is chosen from among their ranks.
In a firm stance, Jaji affirmed that the forthcoming 10th assembly must not be a mere continuation of the 9th assembly, where decisions were made with a self-serving mindset.
Furthermore, Jaji revealed that he and other contenders in the race would collaboratively nominate a consensus candidate who could surpass Abbas in the election for the coveted position of Speaker.
He said, “Under my leadership, if I emerge, I believe it is going to be a stronghold for democracy to triumph and make sure that every legislative business is carried out based on the principles of the rules and the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria,” he said.
“We would find the way forward most especially in the areas of insecurity, economy and of course infrastructure deficit. I am joining this race because I know I have a lot to offer if I am allowed to serve as the speaker.
“In terms of legislation, it is something that we have to give utmost concern and priority to review the national security act if given the opportunity. What we are marking today is unity and trust.
“For the very first time, we have the opposition parties greater in number. They did their campaign with different slogans but all of them can be merged and if we are truly united, we won’t allow subversive agents to decide the 10th assembly for us.
“The fragile unity that we are enjoying today they want to make sure they dissolve that unity. They have done a lot of imbalance in our political equation without looking at the agitation by others raging. To them, it is not a matter of concern. But we Nigerians have only one country that is ours. We don’t have dual citizenship like them.
“So we have to sit and fight that injustice and to say no to them. I feel saddened when I realize that the 9th assembly is being operated at the instance of the leadership.
“It is not child’s play and not an office that one can sit somewhere to say he anointed somebody to discharge responsibility on my behalf. We are not looking for an extension of the 9th assembly. We are not looking for the continuation of an assembly that can only sit when matters of concern are to the leadership and their interests. If we are there we would do our best to restore sanity and unity to the national assembly.“