Abdulrazak Saad Namdas (born January 1, 1969) is a Nigerian veteran journalist and politician. Namdas a member of Nigeria Federal House of Representatives represents Jada/Ganye/MayoBelwa/Toungo Federal Constituency of

Adamawa State Adamawa is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Borno State, Borno to the northwest, Gombe State, Gombe to the west, and Taraba State, Taraba to the southwest while its eas ...

, north east

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. He was the spokesman of

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the 8th assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He previously served as Chief Press Secretary to Governor

Boni Haruna Boni Haruna (born 12 June 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as Minister for Youth Development of Nigeria from 2014 to 2015. He previously served as governor of Adamawa State from 1999 to 2007 and was a member of the Peoples Democratic Pa ...

of Adamawa State. Namdas was a deputy president of the Pan-African parliament. In 2019, he contested for the speaker of house of representatives of the 9th assembly but stepped down for Femi Gbajabiamila who was endorsed for the position by their party

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...

, APC.

Early life and education

Namdas was born in Ganye Local Council Area of Adamawa State during the

Nigerian civil war The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

, his childhood experience greatly influenced his upbringing, and the seeds of humanitarianism, political activism and internationalism were sown in him. After graduating with a BSC in

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

from the

Usmanu Danfodiyo University Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), also known as UDUSOK, is a public research university located in the city of Sokoto, in north-western Nigeria. It is one of the initial twelve universities founded in Nigeria by the federal government ...

, Sokoto, and then a Post Graduate Diploma in

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

from the Nigeria Institute of Journalism in 1998. Namdas served as State Correspondent for the

Nigerian Daily Times ''The Daily Times'' was a Nigerian newspaper with headquarters in Lagos. At its peak, in the 1970s, it was one of the most successful locally-owned businesses in Africa. The paper went into decline after it was purchased by the government in 1975 ...

. This led to his appointment as Chief Press Secretary to Governor Boni Haruna of Adamawa State.

Political career

Namdas became a partisan politician after he was appointed Director General of Atiku Support Group – an influential political campaign platform that was founded by

Atiku Abubakar Atiku Abubakar (; born 25 November 1946) is a Nigerian politician and businessman who served as the vice president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo. He ran for the office of governor of Adamawa State i ...

, a former Vice President of Nigeria who served alongside President Olusengun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007.

Election to House of Representatives

Namdas a member of All Progressives Congress was elected to the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives in 2015. He represents Jada/Ganye/Mayo Belwa/Toungo Federal Constituency of Adamawa State. After the inauguration of the 8th assembly on June 6, 2015 he was appointed as chairman of house committee on Media and Public Affairs. The chairmanship of this committee meant that he is the spokesman of the house. In 2019 he was elected to a second term in the house.

Race for speaker

After winning election to a second term in the house in 2019, Namdas started a campaign for the speaker of the Federal House of Representatives of the 9th assembly. His major campaign issues were rebranding of the image of the national assembly which was at the time under severe criticism for various reasons by Nigerians and the second issue was to give the youths a key political position. His campaign received popular support but several factors including zoning of speakership position to the south west of Nigeria and the issue of ranking (seniority) worked against him. He dropped his ambition for the APC nominated candidate Femi Gbajabiamila from the south of the country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Namdas, Abdulrazak All Progressives Congress politicians Adamawa State politicians 1969 births Living people Members of the 8th National Assembly (Nigeria) Members of the 9th National Assembly (Nigeria)