Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D

Early Life and Education

Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, began his journey in the Green Chamber in 2011, when he was first elected by the people of Zaria Federal Constituency to represent them. Ever since, his people have returned him to the Hallowed Chamber in three subsequent election cycles.

Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen is a humble prince of the ancient and historic Zazzau Emirate. He was born into the royal family of the Zazzau Emirate in Kaduna State. His ancestral origin is traced to Mallam Musa, the First Emir of Zazzau Kingdom, to Mall Tajo, his 7th son to Iyah Abdullahi and to Mall Tajo and to Abbas Tajudeen.

The Speaker holds the traditional title of Iyan Zazzau, making him the 17th in the Zazzau Emirate and 6th in hierarchy among the kingmakers of the Emirate.

Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen had his primary education at the LEA Primary School, Lemu, Zaria, between 1970 and 1976, after which he proceeded to the Government Secondary School, Makarfi. He was at the Katsina Teacher’s College from 1978 to 1981 and gained admission to the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria where he obtained Diploma in Accounting from 1982 to 1984. He enrolled in the ABU the second time and obtaine a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration between 1985 and 1988.

Due to his craving for knowledge, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen enrolled at ABU for the third time for his Master’s in Business Administration from 1991 to 1993. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Business Management from the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto in 2010, a year before his first election to the House of Representatives.

Early Career

Between 1981 and 1988, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen was a classroom teacher with the Education Department of Zaria Local Government, where he taught at different primary schools. He served briefly as a clerical officer with the Kaduna Cooperative Bank Limited from 1984 to 1985 and as an Investment Officer with the Trust Acceptance Limited between 1988 and 1989.

The Speaker of the 10th House was also Accountant II with the Bursary Department of the Kaduna State Polytechnic (now Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic), Zaria in 1989, and later became Lecturer II with the Accounting and Finance Department of the same institution and was the founding Head of Department.

The man, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen moved to the private sector between 1993 and 1998 where he became the Area Marketing Manager of the then Nigeria Tobacco Distribution Company Plc (now British-American Tobacco), and from 1998 to 2001, he was the General Manager, Jos Tobacco Distribution Company Ltd.

His passion for teaching took him back to the classroom in 2001 when he became a Senior Lecturer with the Banking and Finance Department of Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria and became the Head of Department. In 2005, Dr. Abbas Tajudeen moved to the Kaduna State University (KASU) as a Senior Lecturer and pioneer Head of the Department of Accounting of the institution.

Political Career

In 2011, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen (Ph.D) contested and won the House of Representatives seat for Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State under the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC). After taking the oath of office in 2011, he was appointed the Deputy Chairman, Committee on Legislative Compliance. He became a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following the merger that saw the birth of the ruling party in 2013.

He got the mandate of his people the second time during the 2015 general elections. From 2015 to 2019, he was the Chairman of the House Committee on Solid Mineral. Because of his performance as an excellent lawmaker and a grassroots politician, he got re-elected for the third time in 2019. He was then appointed the Chairman of the Committee on Land Transport in the 9th Assembly.

Notably, he sponsored a record 74 bills from 2019 to 2023, with 21 bills assented to by former President Muhammadu Buhari, making him the highest sponsor of bills and assented bills in the entire history of the Nigerian parliament. In the 8th Assembly – 2015 – 2019, he held the record of the member with the third -highest number of Bills (43 Bills).

During the 2023 general elections, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen got the overwhelming support of his constituents to represent them for the fourth time in the House of Representatives.

On Tuesday, June 13, 2023, he was elected by the overwhelming majority of the members of the 10th House of Representatives as the Speaker. In an unprecedented manner, he scored a total of 353 out of 359 votes to defeat Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, the Deputy Speaker of the 9th House, and Hon. Aminu Sani Jaji, both of whom polled three votes each.

Awards and Recognitions

Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen is a Fellow, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILTS); Fellow, Chartered Institute of Marketers; Fellow, Chartered Institute of Administrators; Fellow, Chartered Institute of Treasury Management; Associate Member, Chartered Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Nigeria; Associate Members, Chartered Institute of Management.

As an academic, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has published 13 papers in International Journals and attended more than forty National and International Seminars and Conferences.

The Speaker was the immediate past Treasurer, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (African Chapter); Governing Council member, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) representing the North West from 2019 to 2023; he chaired four different Ad hoc Committees of the House between 2015 and 2022. He doubled as the Caucus Leader of Members from Kaduna State and APC Caucus Leader of members from the state from 2019 to 2023. He chaired the Sub-Committee on Constitutional Review Conference for the North Central zone in 2021.

Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has been variously described as a man of high intellect; a man of uncommon pedigree; a man of good character; a silent achiever; a legislative role model; an unsung hero of the Nigerian Legislature, especially the 9th Assembly and an academic par excellence.

He is a pan-Nigerian because he represents everything and everyone from the South, North, and East or Western part of Nigeria. He is indeed, a man for the entire NIGERIA; a complete gentleman; an administrator and a unifier; an astute lawmaker; a man who has made history by sponsoring a record 74 Bills in a 4-year term; calm, collected and highly measured; a stabilizer.

Family

Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen is a man who is a friend to all; a committed, patriotic, and detribalized Nigerian; a dedicated and PROUD TEACHER.