"It is worthy to note that the speakership campaign witnessed in the past few months was democracy at play. But today, all of that has come to pass, and it is time to forge ahead and work together for our people for our common good," he said.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has called on his colleagues to forge ahead and work together for the common good of Nigerians.
The new speaker stated this in his inaugural speech on Tuesday after his election.
Mr Abbas, who represents Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State on the APC ticket, was elected the speaker of the House on Tuesday after polling 353 votes to defeat the duo of former Deputy Speaker Idris Wase and Aminu Jaji, who polled three votes each to emerge as joint runner-up.
Some aspirants for the position had earlier stepped down for the Kaduna lawmaker
While assuring all the members of the House equal treatment, he said there is a need to move forward after the long campaign.
"It is worthy to note that the speakership campaign witnessed in the past few months was democracy at play. But today, all of that has come to pass, and it is time to forge ahead and work together for our people for our common good," he said.
Although the campaign for the speakership was long and tough, some of the aspirants stepped down for Mr Abbas, who earlier got the endorsement of President Bola Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the former Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.
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Mr Abbas said, as the speaker of the lower chamber, his "doors will be open" to everyone.
He also promised that the 10th House would surpass the achievements of the last House led by Mr Gbajabiamila.
"Under my watch, the 10th House shall sustain and even surpass the gains of the 9th House. That is my prayer. We shall carry out the TASK before us JOINTLY. We shall introduce reforms and innovations for the benefit of Nigerians. In a few weeks, we shall be reeling out the legislative agenda that will shape the 10th House of Representatives.
"We shall work closely and interdependently with the Executive and Judiciary to give Nigerians the good governance they deserve. We stand at a crucial juncture in our nation's history, where challenges abound, but so do opportunities. We will champion legislations that will uplift the lives of our fellow citizens, promote social justice, and drive sustainable development," the speaker said
In his speech after the election, Mr Gbajabiamila also said he expected the new speaker to work on the foundation the Ninth Assembly laid.
"I wish you well. It is not an easy feat. But from what I know, you'll do a good job.
"We are your members. On behalf of them, I hand over handover notes as the speaker of the 9th assembly. This will be a guide to you and I hope you continue from where I left off," Mr Gbajabiamila said.
The former speaker is expected to resign his membership of the House on Wednesday as he picks up his appointment as the new chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu.
