Undermining democracy in Bauchi

Recently, there were indications that the Bauchi state Governor Bala Mohammed is plotting to manipulate the election of the principal officers of the state house of assembly to impose those he will be controlling like errand boys.

His plot was exposed on Monday, June 17, 2019, a day the inauguration of the state assembly was scheduled.

In fact, it was the governor who fixed the date for the inauguration but abruptly postponed it without any genuine reason or plausible explanation. Of course, he wants to have more time to execute his hidden agenda.

His action was interpreted by many as a plot to manipulate the election of the assembly leadership because if he had not adjourned the inauguration, some analysts opined that the current Speaker, Kawuwa Shehu Damina, would have been retained. And Bala Mohammed will not be comfortable if that happens. He wants those who are inexperienced to lead the house so that they can be a rubber stamp legislature.

At a time where virtually all the state houses of assembly in the federation were inaugurated, there’s an attempt in Bauchi to impose leadership of the Bauch House Assembly for selfish reasons. We should not allow undemocratic tendencies to prevail in the state.

How could Governor Bala Mohammed remove a substantive clerk appointed by the Assembly Service Commission?

In his inordinate plan to anoint his candidates to take over the leadership of the house in order to impose weak leaders on the house was the illegal removal of the house clerk before the indefinite postponement of the inauguration. That’s tantamount to the subversion of the constitution.

The substantive clerk had refused to agree to the subversion of the constitution and the Standing Rules of the House.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi state was among the teeming critics expressing displeasure on the adjournment of the inauguration of the 9th House of Assembly by the governor, which was earlier slated for Monday 17.

In a statement issued on Monday, the state secretary of the party Alhaji Bako Hussaini observed that Nigeria’s constitution did not empower a state governor to suspend the inauguration after a proclamation.

He reminded Governor Bala Mohammad that the action was undemocratic, null and void.

“APC has a clear majority in the 9th Assembly in the state with 22 members as against the ruling PDP with eight members. With the knowledge that APC is in control of the house, Bauchi state government is employing tactics to create a situation similar to what played out in 2015 at the National Assembly to install minority over majority”, he alleged.

The statement said the APC leadership in the state will not fold its arms to allow the ruling party to do anything contrary to the constitution of Nigeria.

The party, therefore, called on security agencies to advise the governor to restore the removed clerk immediately.

As it is now, the governor has caused tension in the state and has shown to the world that he is not a true democrat as he’s planning to plunge the state into anarchy.

Therefore, the liberal democracy will be defended by all means legally possible and I advise him to allow popular and competent lawmakers to emerge as leaders of the house of assembly who will pass bills that will better the lives of the citizens rather than unnecessarily overheating the polity.

Umar Hayatudeen,

Bauchi

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