The All Progressives Congress in Bauchi State has expressed its displeasure over the postponement of the inauguration of the 9th state House of Assembly by Governor Bala Muhammed which was earlier slated for Monday, June 17th.
The APC which has majority of the members-elect in the assembly, described the postponement as “undemocratic, null and void.”
The party in a statement signed on Monday by the state Secretary of the party, Bako Hussaini and made available to newsmen in Bauchi, observed that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) did not empower a state governor to suspend the inauguration of an Assembly after issuing a proclamation to that effect.
The party alleged that in order to perfect the governor’s plan of having his way in the process of electing a Speaker, he removed the Clerk of the Assembly few days to the inauguration.
The statement said the “the action is undemocratic, null and void,” stressing that “the APC has a clear majority in the 9th Assembly in the state with 22 members as against the ruling PDP which has eight members.”
The party also alleged that with the knowledge that the APC was in control of the house, the Bauchi State government was employing tactics to create a situation similar to what played out in 2015 at the National Assembly to install minority over majority.
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The statement warned that “the APC leadership in the state will not fold its arms and allow the ruling party do anything contrary to the clear provisions of the constitution of Nigeria as amended.”
The APC therefore called on security agencies to advise Governor Bala Mohammed to restore the removed Clerk to the House immediately.
In a reaction, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Hamza Akuyam, described the allegations of the APC as false and unfounded.
He said that the postponement was based on a letter written by the Clerk of the House requesting that the date of the inauguration be shifted.
According to him, the Clerk had requested that the inauguration be adjourned because of logistics issues.
“The Clerk had requested that the previous government that was supposed to have made the arrangements for the new Speaker failed to do so, so the extension was to give the government time to make arrangements.”
Akuyam who stated that the APC was the majority in the House, wondered how the PDP which had just eight members-elect would manipulate to win against the 22 APC members.
He said there was no ulterior motive behind the removal of the clerk of the house, saying “it is just part of the civil service procedure, so nobody should read meanings into it. (PUNCH)
