The House of Representatives has overwhelming elected Hon. Tajudeen Abbas (Zaria federal constituency) as the Speaker of the 10th assembly. He takes over from Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamiala, who is now Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
With 353 votes, Abbas defeated for Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase who had three votes and Hon. Aminu Jaja, who also had three votes.
Abbas, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2011 on the platform of the now defunct Congress for Progressive Change.
His colleagues call him a “silent achiever”. In the eighth Assembly – between 2015 and 2019 – he held the record of a single member that sponsored the highest number of bills in the entire National Assembly. When he returned to the ninth House – from 2019 to 2023 – Abbas singlehandedly sponsored record breaking 74 bills, out of which 21 were signed into law.
He is a Prince of the Zazzau Emirate, and holds the tradional title of the Iyan Zazzau. Based on the tradition, he is in line of succession to become the Emir of Zazzau.
He had a distinguished career in both public and private sectors before coming to the House.
He was a primary school teacher and later became a polytechnic and university lecturer. He was the pioneer Head of Department of Accounting and Finance at Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria between 1989 and 1993. He also pioneered the Department of Business Administration at the same institution in 2001 before joining the Kaduna State University, where he established the Department of Accounting as the pioneer HoD in 2005.
Abbas worked at the Nigerian Tobacco Distribution Company (now British-American Tobacco Company) between 1993 and 1996. He quit the academia and joined politics in 2010, where he contested for the House of Representatives seat for Zaria federal constituency and won. He came into politics well prepared as he had already obtained Masters degrees and a PhD in business administration management prior to his first election as a legislator.
His colleagues call him a silent achiever. In the eighth Assembly – between 2015 and 2019 – he held the record of a single member that sponsored the highest number of bills in the entire National Assembly. When he returned to the ninth House – from 2019 to 2023 – Abbas singlehandedly sponsored record breaking 74 bills, out of which 21 were signed into law.
He remains unassuming, not attracting attention to himself.
