Tajudeen Abbas elected speaker, Kalu becomes deputy

The lawmaker representing Zaria constituency of Kaduna, Tajudeen Abbas, has been elected speaker of the house of representatives.

Benjamin Kalu from Abia state has been declared deputy speaker.

Kalu was declared unopposed after his nomination by Babajimi Benson, a lawmaker from Lagos.

Waziri Ibrahim from Yobe, seconded the nomination.

Abbas defeated Idris Wase and Sani Jaji by a landslide to win the election on Tuesday.

Abbas polled 353 votes, Wase got 3 votes, while Jaji also scored 3 votes.

Abbas, 59, was first elected to the house of representatives in 2011 on the platform of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change.

He is a prince from the Zazzau emirate and holds the traditional title of Iyan Zazzau.

Abbas was a primary school teacher, a polytechnic and university lecturer before his foray into politics in 2010.

He holds a masters degree and a PhD in business administration.