…Lawmakers’ views*
BY OBUTE JAMES
The 10th National Assembly was inaugurated on June 13, 2023 following the election of Senator Godswill Akpabio as Senate President and Senator Jibrin Barau as Deputy Senate President as well as the election of Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen Ph.D as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu as Deputy Speaker. The Nigerian Senate comprises 109 Senators while the House of Representatives consists of 360 Members.
Seven political parties won election into the Senate, they include All Progressives Congress (APC) 59; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 36; Labour Party (LP) 8,; New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) 2; Social Democratic Party (SDP) 2, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) 1 and Young Progressives Party (YPP) 1. 106 men won the election while women got 3 seats. Similarly, eight political parties won election into the House of Representatives. They include APC 180; PDP 116; LP 35; NNPP 19; APGA 5; SDP 2; African Democratic Congress (ADC) 2 and YPP 1. While out of the 360 seats men got 346 seats , women in the other hand got 14 seats.
Over the years the leadership of the House of Representatives threaded with more caution than the Senate because apart of the number of Members which is bigger than the Senate, the Green Chamber also consists of younger people than the Senate. At the inauguration, some political commentators argued that Speaker Abbas may not find it easy in piloting the affairs of the 10th House of Representatives due to certain factors like the large numbers of opposition political parties that won almost half of the total number of the seats, total number of returning lawmakers that are far less than the first-term Members. Following the February 26, 2023, first-term parliamentarians {Members} are 250 which comprises 69.8%
About two years after taking the mantle of leadership of the Green Chamber, Abbas through his leadership qualities did not only prove the pundits and some political commentators who predicted difficulty in managing the affairs of the House wrong but was able to prove to Nigerians and international community that running the affairs of the House smoothly is possible.
As at the time of this report, the waves of defection and political realignment have slightly altered the stand of each of the political parties that won election to the House of Representatives. With the defection of 8 Members on Tuesday 6th May, 2025, the total number of House of Representatives Members that have defected to other political parties stood at 24. Two weeks later in the same month, 7 Members dumped their parties bringing the total number of defectors to 31. Of this number, the All Progressives Congress has emerged as the chief beneficiary, having welcomed twenty-eight (28) new Members into its fold. The People’s Democratic Party has suffered the highest attrition, with seventeen (17) defections, followed by the Labour Party with eight (8), New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) (4) the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Young Progressives Party (YPP) have each lost one member. Notably, no defections have occurred from the APC to any other political party.
Though leading the affairs of the House of Representatives is not a child play, one of the areas that Abbas stood out was the management of the tax reforms bills which generated a lot of controversies with many members in the ruling parties kicking against it. Several lawmakers who kicked against the tax bills and describing them as dead on arrival ironically voted in its favour due to the way and manner Speaker Abbas handled the issue of the bills termed as controversial by many including Northern Governors Forum who initially appealed to the President to withdraw them.
The heat generated by the tax reform bills led to a coalition comprising Members from both ruling and opposition parties in the House of Representatives but with the swift action of Abbas who immediately suspended debate on the tax reform bills pending his engagement with relevant stakeholders, the table later changed in favour of the bills, though there were some amendments during the public hearing on them.
The four tax reform bills include: the Nigeria Tax Bill, Tax Administration Bill, Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill, and Nigeria Revenue Service Bill. The bills, were transmitted by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly on October 3, 2024. The Senate passed the bills for second reading in November 2024 at the time opposition against the bills was so high. The House of Representatives in February 2025 after much consultation and extensive debate passed the bills for Second Reading. In March 2025, the House passed the bills after its Third Reading.
Highlights of the bills: Some of the areas that generated controversies but were amended include inheritance tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) rate and distribution formula, and also the clause on continuous funding of TETFUND, NASENI, and NITDA from the development levies fund. On VAT revenue distribution, 10% for federal government, 55% to states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and 35% to local governments. The amount of the VAT revenue standing to the credit of states and local governments shall be distributed among them on the basis: of Equally – 50 per cent, Population – 20 per cent and Consumption – 30 per cent. Consumption is determined by the place of consumption, irrespective of where the return is filed.
The Conference Report on the Bills was however presented during the plenary session before the lawmakers proceeded for Sallah and Democracy Day Break in May.
Good leadership leads to good followership
Responding to the Abbas leadership style, Hon. (Barr.) Ademorin Kuye, Chairman, House Committee on Public Assets and representative of Somolu Federal Constituency of Lagos State said good leadership brings about good followership:
He said “Credit must go to Mr. Speaker, who has demonstrated the highest unimaginable degree of camaraderie amongst the Members. You see, when you give good leadership, you get good followership. It is from the abundance of the love that Mr. Abbas has consistently exhibited in official and in personal capacity and lives of Members, the way he has touched them in their official lives and in their personal lives that is why, for the past two years, we have never had any crisis. We saw how the change of the national anthem went, seamlessly. He is a good listener, He yields the floor to the opposition, gives them the platform to express their reservation and addresses their emotional suspicion.
Abbas is a man whose decision is largely based on the overall interests of the country and Members. He cares, listens, understands and feels what we feel as well as manifests and exhibits the highest degree of patience. He sees himself not as the boss, but as our colleague, first among people. The way he sees himself, and that’s the way he relates with us. So he makes the job easy.”
Good leadership prevents a baby from being thrown away with dirty water
Also responding, Hon. Joshua Audu Gana, representing Lavon/Mokwa/Edati Federal Constituency of Niger State said they were instances where good bills were thrown away due to the way and manner there were handled and presented before the legislators. According to him, the way the Speaker handled several issues, particularly the tax reforms bills is commendable.
He said many of the laws that were considered from 1939 to date are outdated and moribund and they are not helping the people.
“We want a more functional system that can help Nigerians and free up all the loose ends, the leakages in the system unknown taxation that happens in nooks and crannies that we are not aware of, we want all those things to be out of the system so that the country and her people will move forward,” Gana said.
Consultation, key to success
Hon Kwamoti Bitrus Laori, Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions and Vice Chairman, Northern Caucus said one of the leadership styles of Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen Ph.D. Speaker of the House of Representatives is the use of consultation. According to him, the Speaker used it in several instances but became obvious during the tax reform bills consideration.
“Really I have to commend Mr. Speaker because it was one piece of legislation that was ready to scatter and cause chaos and disharmony in the House. But his acumen, dexterity, patience and managerial skill came into play and he was able to calm frayed nerves and he took full responsibility.
“This is one of the bills I have seen in a long time, where the Speaker consulted with almost everybody, state by state, he has gone to the governors, went to various zones, called for leadership meetings , and gave necessary assurance. He said, look, everybody’s mind should be at rest, he is on top of this situation and nobody will be shut out. And of course he kept to his words and he did so.
“The Speaker has handled a lot of issues but I think this is the best he has done and he needs to be commended. Sincerely speaking, without any sentiment attached, I think he has done exceptionally well,” he said.
