Immediate past deputy speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase (Plateau, APC), has conceded defeat and congratulated Speaker Tajudeen Abbas on his victory at the just concluded election of presiding officers for the 10th House.
He also congratulated his successor, Benjamin Okezie Kalu (Abia, APC), who emerged as deputy speaker unopposed.
Abbas emerged Speaker after polling 353 votes to defeat Wase and Aminu Sani Jaji, who got three votes each.
In a statement he personally signed, Wase said that even though they were on different sides of the political spectrum, he acknowledged that they were all partners in the project of deepening the country’s parliamentary democracy.
“I believe my contest in this Speakership election was much more about making a case for what I considered a lack of equity and fairness in the manner in which my party’s zoning was done than it was about winning.
“As a politician who has been engaging in elections since 2007 and has returned to the House for the 5th term, I verily understand that every contest must generate its necessary contentions.
“However, in the end, we have to come together to confront the bigger matters of the stability of the Parliament and enriching legislative governance to deepen our collective democracy.
“In this light, I wish to once again congratulate the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu on their victory and urge my supporters and well-wishers, as well as my fellow contestants, to give them all the cooperation required to achieve a stable and united 10th House of Representatives”, he said.
Wase said he intends to “fervently and actively participate in all legislative business of the 10th Assembly and will continue to proudly represent not only the good people of Wase Federal Constituency but Nigerians at large.”
He thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he described as his “mentor and leader,” for “his continuous fatherly support and counsel,” which he said sustained him from his early days in ACN till date.
“I am immensely indebted to you, sir, and will continue to be. I thank my constituents, who have consistently demonstrated their unalloyed faith in and support for me by continuously returning me to the Green Chambers for the 5th term to represent them.
“I will continue to represent you well. I thank my campaign team and supporters for their ceaseless efforts throughout the campaign.
“I am very much indebted to you. I thank all my honorable colleagues for their support and counsel. I thank those who voted for me. I thank those who did not vote for me. I thank those who voted for my opponent even when their hearts were with me.
“I am eternally grateful to you all and must say that I have been further enriched by the experience. I assure all my colleagues that I will continue to, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, show ‘charity towards all and malice towards none’,”he said.
