Bauchi Assembly Crisis:  Faction Declares Support for Speaker

Segun Awofadeji

A faction in the ongoing leadership crisis that is rocking the Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA) has declared its support and loyalty to the embattled Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Y. Suleiman, affirming that Sulieman remained the speaker of BAHA.

Speaking on behalf of the members loyal to the speaker,

A member of BAHA Representing Kirfi, Hon Abdulkadir Umar Dewu, called on people of the state to remain calm since Suleiman remained the speaker of the House. 

Dewu said on Wednesday that “it’s not true that 22 members of the BAHA passed vote of no confidence on leadership.” 

He debunked the reports that 22 members of BAHA recently sat and passed a 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 and boasted that those behind the plot would never get the constitutional required number to execute it.

Dewu said: “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 speaker of the BAHA and the other honourable members of the house came to me as a surprise.”

He explained that “it came to me as a surprise, and I am a little bit confused, when I heard about it. All I know is that the BAHA comprised of 31 members of which I know nine 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.” 

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. 

“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 BAHA 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 is not true,” Dewu said. 

He noted that it 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 mobilisation 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 provision on that, it’s just a privilege,” the lawmaker 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.