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A car smashed during a protest at the assembly complex
By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
Another faction in the ongoing leadership crisis rocking Bauchi State House of Assembly has declared its support and loyalty to the embattled Speaker of the Assembly, Abubakar Y Suleiman saying he remains the Speaker.
Speaking on behalf of the members loyal to the Speaker, member representing Kirfi, Abdulkadir Umar Dewu called on people of the state to remain calm maintaining that Abubakar Y Sulaiman remains the Speaker of the House assuring that nothing will happen to him.
Speaking from Saudi Arabia, he said that “It’s not true that 22 members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly passed vote of No confidence’ on leadership describing the claim as untrue.
Umar Dewu was responding to reports that 22 members recently sat and passed vote of No confidence on leadership of the House , asking it to resign honorably or get impeached.
He expressed concerns on the allegations made by the 22 members of the Assembly boasting that those behind the plot will never get the constitutional required number to execute their plans.
According to him, “The assertion made by the members on the alleged claims that 22 members out of the 31 members of the Assembly have signed a letter calling for the resignation of the Rt. Speaker of the Bauchi state assembly, Abubakar Y. Sulaiman and the other Honorable members of the house came to me as a surprise”.
He explained that, “It came to me as a surprise and I was a little bit confused when I heard about it. All I know is that the Bauchi State House of Assembly comprise of 31 members of which I know 9 of us are presently in Saudi Arabia for Hajj and one of us went to Jerusalem for Christian pilgrimage and I think he only came back yesterday”.
The Lawmaker who explained that a lot of members are not with the aggrieved ones, wondered how and where they came up with that number.
Umar Dewu further explained that, “The House has a total of 31 members, 9 are in Saudi Arabia, one went to Jerusalem and the 20 of us that are not with them are around and they are claiming that they have 22 members with them” .
“So it’s surprising and actually I want to tell the world that people should understand that there is something that may be they are trying to achieve by making that kind of claim”, he added.
“So, as far as I am concerned, the number they are claiming of having is not true and it’s not realistic, so, that issue of 22 honorable members signed an impeachment notice against the speaker of the Bauchi state assembly and other leaders is not true, it’s not realistic. I am not with them and it’s something that we have to tell the world that it’s not true”, Hon Dewu further argued.
On allegations regarding Hajj seats ,Umar Dewu noted that it is something that is a privilege and not a right for government to allocate Hajj seats to members of the Assembly or any other citizen.
“If they talked about Hajj, is it a right or a privilege? You have to understand that. Is that a right? It’s not a right, it’s a privilege, go and check the relevant laws, most especially from the revenue mobilization and physical Commission, go and check, is there any provision that the state government should give honorable members Hajj seats? Let the people check, there is no any provision on that, it’s just a privilege”, the Lawmaker stressed.
He said that issues relating to Hajj is not peculiar to Bauchi alone, adding that he read in the papers that over 1000 intending pilgrims from Kano missed the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj.
“So, it’s not only in Bauchi, if you can go and check the records from 36 states of the federation you can get this kind of problem, so Bauchi state is not an exception, Buachi is only two hundred and something but when you go to other states is even more than that”, he said.
Umar Dewu also said that the state government played its own part by paying all the money due for the seats, adding that his colleagues shouldn’t have made any issue out of the Hajj seats.
“I will be happy if they can come out and tell the world their rights that have been denied by the state government, I will expect that from them so that I can respond to it because as honorable member of the Bauchi state assembly, I can authoritatively tell you that without fear of contradiction that there is no any single Kobo or any entitlement that is due for us as members of Bauchi state house of assembly that is not settled by the government”, he revealed.
The lawmaker who described the move by his aggrieved colleagues as an empty threat, challenged them to come out and tell the world if they have something hidden as an agenda.
He said that majority of the members of the Assembly are happy with the way and manner the Speaker is piloting the affairs of the Assembly , hence, such issue should not have reared its ugly head.
He however assured that the Speaker has the numerical strength that will give him cover against any threat to continue discharging his constitutional mandate.
While condemning the recent attack on some members of the assembly by hoodlums, the house member debunked insinuations that members loyal to the speaker are behind it.
“As a colleague, actually I am not happy about the incident and I condemn it in its totality and I must sympathize with them”, he said
He then reiterated that the allegations made by some members of the assembly against the speaker is fishy and not realistic.
