Paul Omokuvie, Bauchi
A former member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly representing Dass constituency, Hon Mariam Bagel, has fingered the immediate past governor, Mohammed Abubakar as the mastermind of the leadership crisis in the state Assembly.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Bauchi, on Thursday, the only female lawmaker in the state the 8th Assembly, warned the former governor to stay clear of the politics of the state, describing his tenure as woeful.
Bagel berated Abubakar for being unpatriotic and being behind Wednesday’s visit by six out of the 17 newly-inaugurated members of the state Assembly led by former speaker Shehu Kawuwa, to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa even after the crisis in the House had been amicably resolved through the efforts of the governor, traditional rulers and well-meaning stakeholders in the state.
She said: “I am seriously warning the former governor to stay away from Bauchi. He failed in the state, so let him not manipulate our legislators to make it difficult for our government to work. Our interest is Bauchi State and they should allow Bauchi to move forward.
“I am calling on my colleagues to come back and work. If there is anything wrong that will come from the government they will see it and nobody will stop them from doing the right thing. They should not be chasing shadows going to Abuja. The president cannot come and take over the state Assembly. It is against the constitution
“This is not the first time that the former governor has been running to the Presidency. During the 2019 campaign or even before that he has been going there and we know even from the state primaries, we saw some APC members run to the Presidency to complain about the situation in the state and so also up to today and so it is what the sow that they are reaping now. Abubakar destroyed APC since during the party’s congress. There were no congresses and primaries in Bauchi State and everybody knows that. People went to the president and complained, people went to the party and complained, no action was taken. Is it now that they want the president to come and take over the state? One thing that needs to be understood is that everything should be done according to the constitution of the country and there is nowhere in the constitution where the governor should give a second proclamation; understand this very circumstance and the situation that happened in the Bauchi State is the exact thing that happened in the 2014 National Assembly election. It was politics that took place nothing was done outside the constitution.
The way forward is, as the president said, nothing can be done outside the constitution and these lawmakers were elected by their constituents. Let them go back and lead them. What they now want is for the president to use his power and take over the Assembly forcefully and give it to them.
The present governor reached out to the House of Assembly and so they have no reason to fight him. I was part of the last administration and l gave the former government almost one year to know whether they will work on not but these members started fighting the government from day one. Even before they were inaugurated, they started fighting the government. The government that has not even spent one month in office you are fighting it. Why did they say people loyal to the president should be leaders of the National Assembly so that the president can find it easy to work?
