Reps speakership: Betara, Gagdi withdraw for Abbas Tajudeen

The lawmaker representing Biu/Bayo/Shani and Kwaya Kusar Federal Constituency of Borno State in the House of Representatives, Aliyu Betara, and his colleague, Yusuf Gagdi, have stepped down from the House speakership race.

Gagdi is representing the Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke Federal Constituency of Plateau State in the lower legislative chamber.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) had last month nominated the lawmaker representing Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, Tajudeen Abbas, and the House’s former spokesman, Benjamin Kalu, as speaker and deputy respectively.

However, the decision did not sit well with some members of the party, including Betara, Gagdi, and the former deputy speaker, Idris Wase, who had declared their interest in the position.

The two lawmakers took the decision to withdraw from the race after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Sunday.

Shettima, who addressed the State House correspondent at the end of the meeting, praised the two men for aligning with the party’s position on the National Assembly leadership.

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