Speaker bags parliamentary excellence award

By Tom Okpe

Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep Tajudeen Abbas, has bagged the ‘Parliamentary Excellence Award’ in recognition of his innovative leadership, capacity building, and stability in the House, among other achievements.

The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, presented the award to the Speaker on Saturday night in Abuja at the 2024 Nigerian Excellence Awards in Public Service, NEAPS.

Speaker Abbas received the award after a successful House Open Week, held between Wednesday, July 3, and Friday, July 5, 2024, where he unveiled the one-year scorecard of the 10th House.

In the scorecard, Speaker Abbas explained how the 10th House under his leadership ensured an inclusive and participatory legislature in the past year.

The Speaker also noted that the House has been implementing its Legislative Agenda, which it introduced in October 2023 diligently.

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Under his leadership, the Green Chamber introduced a total of 1,351 bills, the highest number in any first session since 1999, with 89 of the bills, passed.

He emphasised that the most critical aspects of citizen engagement is accountability, noting that: “The 10th House of Representatives has been committed to running an open House that actively incorporates citizens’ input in lawmaking and oversight processes.”

Other distinguished Nigerians who received awards in different categories included President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Governors of Gombe, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya; Nasarawa, Engr Abdullahi Sule and Bauchi, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed.

Others are Adamawa, Ahmadu Fintiri; Niger, Umar Mohammed Bago; Zamfara, Dauda Lawal; Ogun, Dapo Abiodun; Enugu, Peter Ndubuisi Mba; Senator Sani Musa; Rep James Abiodun Faleke; Rep Muktar Aliyu Betara; FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike; Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, among many others.

The NEAPS 2024 is a collaboration between the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and a private firm, The Best Strategic PR (TBS). It was first instituted in 2022.