By Umar Usman Duguri.
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed will proclaim the holding of the First Session of the 10th State House of Assembly Tuesday, June 20, 2023, following the governor’s meeting with the PDP members- elect on Sunday as part of plan to establish a smooth legislature.
A reliable source at the Bauchi House of Assembly who spoke with to this medium said, ” The governor will be present during the inauguration before travelling to Saudi Arabia to partake in the lesser Hajj, and it’s connected with the request made by the governor to retain former speaker Sulaiman after notable member Honorable Babayo Mohamed Akuyam, showed interest for the position based on his performance and clarion calls made by various groups.
The 10th Bauchi Assembly comprises 31 members and is dominated by the ruling party, PDP in the state.
The party won the majority of 22 out of the 31 seats in the last State Assembly elections while the All Progressives Congress won eight seats leaving the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP with just a seat won by Honorable Mubarak Haruna popularly known as Mai Rakumi.
Until now, the 9th Assembly in Bauchi State from inception in June 2018, was controlled by members of the All Progressive so Congress with 22 members, the PDP had eight while the New Nigeria People’s Party had one.
For the Speakership race, the tradition in Bauchi is that if the governor comes from the South, the Deputy must come from the North while the Speaker has to come from the central zone of the state.
The Bauchi Central Senatorial District covers the local government areas of Damban, Darazo, Ganjuwa, Misau, Ningi, and Warji.
Suleiman Abubakar, a former APC member, representing Ningi Central State is the immediate Speaker of 9th assembly House of Assembly who lobbied to retain his position in the next assembly after a narrow victory in the just concluded election.
Pundits believed that the 10th assembly should make a difference from the perception of the people as rubber stamp lawmakers and should focus more on their task as lawmakers.
