22 Members Of Bauchi Assembly Move To Impeach Speaker, Principal Officers

• Pass vote of no confidence on leadership

BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – Following the loss of confidence in the leadership of the House, 22 members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly have passed a vote of confidence on the Speaker, Hon. Abubakar Y. Suleiman and other principal officers directed them to resign or face impeachment.

The aggrieved 22 legislators to demonstrate their threat, passed a vote of no confidence on the principal officers of the House for ineptitude.

The members, led by the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon Baballe Abubakar, representing Dambam/Dagauda/Jalam constituency, averred that the leadership of the House has failed in its responsibility to the members and therefore called on the Speaker to choose the path of voluntary resignation from office or be impeached.

Abubakar told Journalists at the end of their meeting at the Assembly complex that the 22 members resolved to pass a vote of no confidence on the leadership of the House.

According to him; “We consider that as it is today, there is no leadership in the State House of Assembly. I am among the leaders but, we feel that it is the right time and we must do it. We have therefore passed a vote of no confidence on all the leaders of the Bauchi State House of Assembly.

“We are calling on the leaders of the Bauchi State House of Assembly to honorably tender their resignation letters to the Clerk of the Assembly. That will allow the Honorable House the opportunity to elect its leaders in order to forge ahead,” he stressed.

The aggrieved members also called on Governor Bala Mohammed-led State government to be neutral in the affairs of the House saying the Governor should not see the development as a threat to him or aimed at sabotaging his government.

“No, that is not our intention. It is just that we don’t have confidence in our leaders and I am part of them. Nothing can be done right as long as this leadership remains in existence. We hope that the affected people will tow the path of honor and step aside because this is the right time to change the leadership of the House.

“We assure the Governor that the change of leadership in the House will not affect his administration and we will do everything possible to see that his government succeeded,” he enthused.

The aggrieved members also expressed displeasure over the manner the 2022 Hajj exercise was conducted, saying that many people could not be airlifted due to inadequate arrangements by the government.

They particularly expressed bitterness that those who paid in 2019 and 2020 were not considered for the exercise, saying that it was wrong for that to happen just as many of the trained officials could not make it, therefore, making the pilgrimage very difficult.

The members particularly expressed displeasure that the Speaker of the House, Abubakar Y Suleiman is the Deputy Leader of the exercise, yet the members were not treated well and carried along in the conduct of the exercise.

In his reaction to the development, Special Adviser on Assembly Liaison to the Governor, Sani Mohammed Burra said that the issue of Hajj is a general problem across the country due to the limited seats allocated to the state.

On the resolution of the 22 members concerning the leadership, he said; “It is their internal affairs and they will resolve it amicably among themselves. I just want to assure that the cordial relationship between the Executive and the Legislature will continue”.