House
of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal yesterday said a “formidable team”
would take Nigeria “to the highest level” in 2015.
He,
however, did not elaborate on who would make up the team, and declined comments
on his rumoured Presidential ambition. He said he was more concerned about
stabilising the House.
He
addressed reporters in Lagos after delivering the Quarterly Business Lecture of
the Island Club. He spoke on the topic: The Legislature and the growth of our
democracy.
During
a question-and-answer session after his lecture, Tambuwal said: “The future is
very bright for Nigeria and it will witness a very great and important development
come 2015, to usher in a formidable team that will take Nigeria to the highest
level.”
Asked
whether he would run for the presidency, Tambuwal said: “I’m hearing about
Presidential ambition from you for the first time. Let’s talk about something
else. What I want to do for now is to stabilise the House of Representatives
and ensure that we complete our tenure the way we have started. By the grace of
God, we shall be remembered positively.”
On the
leadership crises in his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Speaker
said disagreements are part of democracy, and that his membership was not under
threat.
“I am
a member of the PDP and my membership is not threatened. The crisis in PDP is
part of democracy. It’s part of democratic evolution. When you have a big
family like that, you are bound to have some disagreements, even between
husband and wife and among family members you have arguments. And we’re
addressing them gradually,” he said.
On the
latest bloody return of the Boko Haram sect, with the killing on Monday of
seven students and two teachers in Damaturu, Yobe State despite the State of
Emergency, Tambuwal said the security agencies deserve praise for their efforts
so far despite the security challenges.
“I
think the security agencies are doing their best, and I think we’re getting
some positive results from the efforts they are making so far. We should
continue to encourage them,” he said.
In his
lecture, Tambuwal said credit must go to each member of the House for whatever
modest successes the he has recorded.
“Everything
we have achieved, therefore, we have achieved because members were often
determined to place their country above every parochial interest. Even my
emergence as Speaker has been due largely to this desire to elevate the
collective interest above everything else,” he said.
Tambuwal
said there is no democracy without legislature, adding: “Although we all talk
about the three arms of government being separate and equal, the truth is that
the legislature is the first among equals of these three arms of the democratic
composition.”
Source: The Nation
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