Having
served his people of Mbamga constituency in the state house of assembly well in
the 5th, 6th, and 7th assembly through effective representation and lobbying,
including sponsoring of bills and motions, a clarion call was made to him
to still recontest for the Mbamga state constituency in the just
concluded state assembly election. He answered and eventually became the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the election. His constituents
overwhelmingly and convincingly gave him their mandate in the election that
followed. Be that as it may, the newly elected members were inaugurated on
Wednesday, June 3, 2015, and his colleagues unanimously elected him Speaker of
the house with Hon. Danladi Gbanpo, member representing Yorro Constituency, as
Deputy Speaker.
Abel
Peter Diah is the oldest serving member in the Tarba State House of Assembly.
He is reputed to be a lawmaker who truly knows the nitty-gritty of the
legislative business, a political guru who has carved a niche for himself
politically. According to some commentators, the history of Taraba State will
not be complete if he is not mentioned.
In the
opinion of pundits, his election is a right one in the right direction. They
also believe that he has all it takes to take the house to another level of
effective representation.
His
acceptance speech after his election is an eloquent testimony that he would
bring his wealth of experience and exposure to bear in leading the house.
Hear Him:
“It is with special gratitude and deep appreciation to the Almighty God for His
grace, love, and kindness that we are all witnesses to this historic occasion.
A short while ago, our beloved colleagues found the deputy speaker and my
humble self worthy to be called upon to lead them during this very trying moment
in the history of our dear state. It is with outmost humility and the fear of
God that we accept this responsibility to serve you and to serve the people of
Taraba State. We are particularly humbled but honoured because we are aware of
the huge responsibilities and challenges ahead of us.
“It is a
fact that leadership in a legislative house is leadership among equals. We are
all elected here as members of the Taraba State Housa of Assembly and,
therefore, every one of you is eminently qualified in your own right to lead
this august Assembly. However, it is also a fact that the Almighty God chooses
leadership at a particular time. Today the almighty God ordained that by your
votes we be your servants. We are indeed very grateful. My dear colleagues we promise
to run a transparent, accountable, and a result oriented administration. To
this end, we shall operate an open door policy that will encourage and welcome
constructive criticisms. Similarly we shall operate a collective leadership
style that will ensure matters of policy and decisions are arrived at with full
consultation and negotiations where necessary.
“Deliberate
efforts will be made by our leadership to ensure this honorable house operates
as a family inspite of the different political parties which we used as more
platform for our recruitment into the house. The era of politics is over and
therefore all efforts will be geared towards delivery of democratic dividends
to our electorate. This is why your support, cooperation, and where necessary,
loyalty, will always be needed and also solicited for. At this juncture, I wish
to, on behalf of Taraba State House of Assembly, formally extend our
hands of fellowship to the executive and the judicial branches of government.
We need each other. We must cooperate for the sake of the development of Taraba
State.
“As we
commence the journey of our four year tenure of this 8th Assembly, I enjoin the
good people of Taraba State to all unite and cooperate to create a peaceful
environment to allow for service delivery. This is the period of
reconstruction, rehabilitation, and reconciliation. The era of politics is
over, now is the era of chasing the elusive dividends of democracy. We wish to
appeal to the general public to be a little bit patient with us. We invite the
press to continue to be objective in the reportage of our activities. The
security agencies, religious and traditional leaders, the civil society groups
and all others too numerous to mention, we need your support, your prayers, and
any other thing necessary to make us succeed.
“To Mr.
Clerk, the management and staff of the Assembly, I challenge you to redouble
your efforts in providing your support services to the Members. The need for
capacity building cannot be overemphasized. This is more so that we have
incoming new legislators who need to be put through the technical business of
legislative practice and procedures. In the days ahead we shall consult with
our colleagues and come up with a legislative Agenda of the 8th Assembly. This
will itemise our areas of priority during the tenure of the 8th Assembly.”
“In
conclusion, we wish to once more commend and appreciate you, our colleagues,
for this honour done us. We once again assure you we shall not disappoint you.
What we need is prayers from all of you to be filled with wisdom, strength, and
all we need to succeed.”
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