Drama as Mr Speaker’s wives jostle for relevance in House

A mild drama ensued at the house of representatives on Tuesday as wives of Tajudeen Abbas, the new speaker, shoved each other for recognition during the swearing-in ceremony.

The incident occurred after Abbas had been elected speaker by a landslide.

He defeated Idris Wase and Sani Jaji to win the election.

Abbas polled 353 votes, while Wase and Jaji got three votes each.

All seemed to be going on well when Abbas was ushered onto the stage to take his pledge of allegiance.

Kamoru Ogunlana, deputy clerk of the house, recited the oaths for the new speaker to respond to.

Abbas was flanked on his left by his wife and Alhassan Doguwa, lawmaker representing Doguwa/Tudun Wada federal constituency.

The routine event was, however, interrupted by another wife of Abbas, who barged onto the podium and shoved the other wife to the side.

The action appeared to have shocked Abbas, who halted his oath rendering to exchange heated words with the wife who barged onto the stage.

Despite the exchanges, none of the wives backed down as the proceedings continued with both of them on the dais.

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

He 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.