Drama as Assembly steps down screening of former deputy speaker as commissioner nominee
Drama as Assembly steps down screening of former deputy speaker as commissioner nominee
There was mild drama at the Niger State House of Assembly on Tuesday during the ongoing screening of commissioner nominees when the nomination of a commissioner designate was stepped down.
The commissioner nominee at the centre of controversy was a former deputy speaker and four-time member of the state House of Assembly from Agwara local government area of the state, Hon. Bello Agwara.
Trouble started for the commissioner nominee shortly after reading out his credentials when the chief whip of the House and member representing Chanchaga Constituency, Hon. Mohammed Abubakar, stood up to move the motion that his nomination be stepped down for what he described as his “many sins” against the same House of Assembly he served for four terms.
He was accused of using his privileged position as a former member to obtain sensitive documents from the House and used same to sue the House to court and obtained judgement against the same institution he had served for 16 years without exhausting internal mechanisms.
This singular behaviour, the members said, is contrary to his oath of office and therefore it would be a disservice for the House to screen him as commissioner.
The members said he cannot be trusted with public office as sensitive as the office of the commissioner due to his antecedents having betrayed his oath of office while in office as the deputy speaker of the House.
He was also accused of not being a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the time of his nomination as commissioner because he has no proper record of defection from the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), both at his ward and the state APC party.
The members called for outright rejection of his nomination as commissioner but the Speaker intervened and pleaded with the House that the matter be referred to the executive session for further deliberation.
After heated arguments among the members with the majority standing firm against his nomination, the Speaker, Rt Hon Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, stepped down his screening and referred the matter to the executive session.
The embattled commissioner nominee later met the members behind closed doors in the Speaker’s chamber for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, nine out of the 30 commissioner nominees were screened and cleared at the Tuesday sitting while the screening continues on Wednesday.
